Eerie Visions
by Shi no Tenshi 902
Summary: Ever since he could remember, the nightmare had be plaguing his dreams. Haunting him and torturing him without rhyme or reason. He hated the nightmare, hated it with a passion. But, Sasuke will soon realize just how important the nightmare is. SasuNaru
1. The Nightmare

D-Claimer, I don't own a damn thing but the plotline, please be advise.

I'm alive! Yes, I know I haven't written anything for awhile, but I've been busy. Well, actually, I have been writting, this story, but I have had time or the will to post it because I didn't think it was all that good. However, I'm going against my better judgement and posting it. Hopefully you (the readers) will like it.

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Red, nothing but red. The walls were dripping with the color, the floors were flooded with the liquid, and the corpses had no more blood to give. They were drained, their life essence everywhere but where it was supposed to be. Yet, he had no time to look in great detail at the people he once knew in life. He was running, being chased, and his own doom was impending. The assailant's appearance was forever burned into his memory, the wicked grin revealing the stained teeth and eyes shining with what could only be described as pure insanity. However, what stood out the most was the knife the man carried. The blade was covered in blood of its victims, and soon it would be covered in his blood if he did not get away. He could never get away from the man, try as might; no matter how fast he ran, the murderer was always right behind him.

Turning a corner in hopes of losing his assailant, he ended up tripped over a corpse. Not just any corpse, his brother's corpse. Blank black eyes looked into his own, death already claiming the soul that once resided within their depths. His brother's eyes were the last thing he saw before a hand roughly grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back.

_"NOOOO!"_ The scream echoed throughout the room as he was pulled upwards and was forced to stare into the same black eyes from only a moment before. The only difference this time was the fact that these eyes held concern and worry within their depths and were not black blank abysses. His own eyes were filled with panic reflecting the fear and horror from what he just witnessed.

"Shhh," his brother's voice filled the room as he pulled his shaking body into a comforting hug. "It's alright, Sasuke, it's over now." More words were cooed in soft whispers with the hope of calming the small boy's racing mind, yet Sasuke's mind was focusing on what his eyes were seeing, not hearing a word his brother was saying. His eyes might have looked like they were glazed over and were unseeing as he gazed out the window of his room, but the fact of the matter was that Sasuke was looking at the reflecting image of his brother and him in the glass.

His brother's slight muscular built shown through the black cotton nightshirt, but any person could tell that he was just beginning to change from a child into a teenager. A teenager who didn't get out in the sun much judging by the paleness of his skin, but it just so happened that his complexion contrasted perfectly with his black hair. At the moment though, the low ponytail that his hair was in—which had once been neat—now had strands suck out at odd angles from sleep and he appeared more of the fourteen year old boy he was.

As for Sasuke's own reflection, all he could see was his short, raven hair in a messy disarray—because of the nightmare—and one of his onyx eyes over his brother's shoulders. The fear in that one eye alone was enough fear that no twelve year old should have to ever know let alone have it shown with unbridled amount of terror. With the little portion of his skin showing, Sasuke had to focus his eyes to see the chalk white of his clammy feeling skin, which was whiter than his skin tone should have been by a few shades.

"Itachi, Sasuke," a woman around her thirties inquired as she rushed into the room. Her waist length coal black hair fluttering behind her as she entered the room while her wide ebony eyes searched every corner of the bedroom in a frantic gesture looking for the problem. Seeing the two boys huddled on the bed, she was right at the side of the bed without a second's delay, kneeling down—not caring that her silk red nightgown was getting wrinkled—the woman laid her hand on Sasuke's back and began rubbing his back in circles. Sitting right next to the two brothers, one would be hard press to not recognize that the woman was their boys' mother from not only how they all shared the same skin tone but her actions were made out right maternal, there was no other word for it. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Was it the nightmare again?" a middle aged man in a gray yukata asked from his position in the doorway. The little amount of light coming from the small bedside lamp in the room barely reached the man's beige skin tone and reflected in his beadlike eyes. Ear length ink colored tresses fell hazardous into his eyes as head turned to scan the room and its occupants. His tense muscles relaxing when his search turned up empty and he let his posture relax as he walked into the room and towards his family.

Sasuke couldn't do anything but nod his head to answer. The nightmare in question was the one the twelve year old boy had for as long as he could remember. The horrid dream plagued him at minimum once a month, but it was always the same. He was being chased by a psychotic murderer trying to kill him. The bodies of people he knew—sometimes people he'd only seen on the street—were scattered, dismembered, everywhere. Their blood covered everything. Sasuke never remembered what the murderer looked like, but he would _never _forget the knife he carried. The elongated diamond blade always gleamed with a red tint, the handle wrapped in white cloth that was just waiting to be stained with blood, and a circle at the end of the knife which the man—he just _knew_ it was a man—would use to twirl the knife carelessly around his finger; every detail was all scarred within his memory.

In his nightmare, Sasuke would get away only for someone close to him to be murdered before his eyes; while other times more than not, the man would catch him and kill him. Well, he would try to kill him, but before the blade would ever touch his pale skin, the young boy woke himself up screaming. His family had tried to help him by taking him to countless doctors, psychiatrist, and a few specialists to find the reasoning for the nightmares. They tried everything from medication to folk remedies and even hypnosis; unfortunately, nothing ever worked.

Finally, Sasuke found his voice. "_He _killed Aniki this time." He didn't need to explain who _he_ was; his family knew exactly who he was talking about. Itachi stiffen at the words spoken, his grip tightening a little around his little brother, but slowly the teen relaxed again and continued to try and comfort his little brother.

"Oh, honey," his mother's voice chimed throughout the room as she hugged both of her boys. "It's alright; nothing's going to get you or Itachi. I'll make sure of that."

"But what about you Okaa-san?" her youngest son asked, fear still clouding his mind. Mikoto smiled at him and opened her mouth, only to close it when her husband spoke up for her. Without any of them noticing it, he had come to stand right behind her in hopes of being able to comfort his son in any way he could.

"I'll protect your mother," Fugaku stated smugly, the infamous Uchiha family trademark smirk on his face.

* * *

His nerves took a little while to settle, but Sasuke had finally calmed down enough to fall asleep and Itachi soon followed after him. It was only their parents who were left awake and they had moved to sit around the dining room table. Mikoto was currently cradling a cup of piping hot green tea in her hands while Fugaku had something a little stronger in his glass. They sat in silence for a period, neither one knowing exactly what to say at the time nor how to break the silence, just sipping their chosen beverage. Both were trying to relax and let the tension ease. Too bad, it wasn't working.

Fugaku swallowed what was left of his drink in one go before focusing his attention at the problem at hand. "What are we going to do?" His eyes were focused elsewhere, a little glassy in appearance, but it was not from the lack of sleep.

"What can we do?" Mikoto questioned, drinking some of her tea. Her mind was lost in deep thought, thinking of ways to help her youngest son but coming up empty. "We've tried everything. Therapy made it worse, hypnosis worked for awhile, but Sasuke seemed to become immune after a few sessions, and the medication's side effects outweighed what good they did."

"Well, we can't sit around here and do nothing… There must be something we haven't tried yet!" the father said while pouring himself another drink. "It's not like we don't have the money to pay for any type of treatment. I haven't worked all my life to reach where I am, not to be able to help my family when I can. Goddamn it!" His glass was slammed on the table, reverberations bouncing off the walls and through the table. The glass cracked, creating spider like webs around the area where each of Fugaku's fingers held on to the cup. He was tense, and his agitation was getting to him. Soft hands lay upon his shoulders and began to message the kinks out through the grey material of the yukata.

"Calm down, Fugaku-chan," Mikoto's voice soothed the tension in the air, "we'll take care of it. We'll think of something. I'm sure of it."

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So, think I should continue or not?

_**Shi no Tenshi 902**_


	2. A Day in the Lives of the Uchihas

Due to the overwhelming response, actually, just do to six reviewers' comments, I have for you, the next chapter. And guess what? This is the fastest I've ever been able to update a story! Though, don't expect updates this fast in the future, I won't be able to deliver. Anyways, here's chapter two!

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The little red hand moved quickly, ticking at every second as it rotated around the rivet holding it in place. However, no matter how fast the hand moved, it was not fast enough for one Uchiha Sasuke's liking. Only minutes from the end of the school day, the slow ticking of the clock was keeping him away from his freedom. His well-earned freedom he might add. Sasuke had spent the last week working diligently on the annual science fair, which all sixth graders were required to enter while keeping up with all of his other classes. On top of that, Sasuke had the nightmare the night before, which always made the next couple of day dreadful for him. The fact the given day was Friday, didn't help the problem any either.

Brrr-ring. Brrr-ring. Brrr-ring.

The teacher yelled out last minute instructions; however, no one paid attention as they rushed to gather up their belongs and get out of the classroom. Their teacher's voice was lost among the zippers and velcro of messenger bags and backpacks. Half of the class was already out of the room between the first and second bell rings, and the rest were gone by the end of the third bell, all of them that is, but Sasuke. He was just starting to pack up his stuff when the final bell rang and walking down the aisle at the last bell. With a formal goodbye to his teacher, he was out the door.

He might have been on the edge of his seat waiting to get out of school, but he was in no rush to leave the classroom. Most would find the whole situation a contradiction of opposing ideas, a juxtaposition, but then, they never had Uchiha Itachi as an older brother. Sure, Itachi had been in junior high for two years now, but everyone still remembered the teenager and bombarded the poor younger Uchiha after every one of his classes. His unofficial title at school was 'Itachi's Little Brother' named by the teachers the older Uchiha had and those who still remembered him. Teachers, who didn't have him in class, usually asked him if he was Itachi's Little Brother and some of the older students—mostly the girls—asked him about how his brother was doing. They only really talked to him when they wanted Sasuke to deliver a gift to the older Uchiha. Nonetheless, that was not the only reason Sasuke Uchiha was all but attacked during his free time.

His other unofficial title was the elementary school's Number One Heartthrob. Like his brother, the younger Uchiha had his own fan club, which was—thankfully—not as big as Itachi's, at least not yet. His popularity with the girls was increasing, since he was just starting to hit puberty himself. Some of Itachi's fan club still in elementary school had converted to his—much to Sasuke's displeasure—since he was closer to their own age and had a better chance with him. So, not only was he swarmed by Itachi's fan club, but his own as well. Hence, the reason Sasuke was in a hurry to leave school, but dreading leaving classroom.

As expected, as soon as he left the confinements of the teacher protected room, Sasuke was bombarded with people wanting to talk to him, girls wanting to give him presents—either for himself or to pass on to Itachi—and a few girls who wanted to go out on a date with him. The last category crept him out, they were all still in sixth grade and he wasn't interested in girls in anyway just yet. Hell, Itachi was in eighth grade and didn't care about girls either, so it wasn't just him. Luckily, he had become very artful at getting out of these types of situations by skillfully—and with great stealth—sneaking away. It wasn't like sneaking away was hard for him or anything; the skills just came naturally to him, to the extent that he believed he was some type of shinobi in a past life, letting him effectively ditch the crowd of people within a matter of seconds.

Sasuke stopped by the front office to check with one of the school monitors—useless people who were supposed to make sure none of the students got kidnapped, but never did their jobs—to tell her he was walking home and headed down his usual path he took daily. The walk was about thirty minutes, though he could have probably made it in ten minutes if he really wanted to, there was just no real point though. The extra time would just be spent waiting around and Uchihas were not known for their patience—more like their lack of—and it was better if he took his time walking. After all, by the end of the thirty-minute walk, the Junior High chime-like bell would already have rung and Itachi would just be exiting the school's gates. Sometimes Sasuke would have to wait for his older brother but it was never long.

"Ogenki desuka?" Itachi's voice sounded above the numerous others speaking a totally different language than him. However, that's what happens when one lives in America. As one of the most culturally diverse places in the world, there tends to be a mixture of different languages and customs. Some families held onto their traditions and culture from their homelands, while others integrated in with the American society and gave up their old lives all together. For Itachi and Sasuke—second generation full-blooded Japanese-Americans—they grew up with American traditions, but they still heavily relied on Japanese traditions. Hence, the reason they were both fluent in Japanese and English; though, they tended to mix their English and Japanese when speaking with each other.

"Genki desu," Sasuke replied as his brother came up beside him. "Aniki wa?"

"Daijoubu," the taller boy answered as they began to walk side by side down the road that the younger Uchiha had just came from. "Anything interesting happed at school today?" Itachi asked, his Japanese flowing with a rhythmic fluency that came from constant use.

The elementary school student shook his head negatively. "Iie, nothing. Everything was normal, went to class, took a big test which I got a hundred on and spent all of lunch hiding from people in general."

The two brothers continued talking until they reached their destination, The Children's Memorial Park. It wasn't a small park, but it wasn't vastly large either, considering some of the other parks in the city. This one just happened to be the closest to the Uchiha's house, and the brothers would spend their afternoons in the park, doing whatever they felt like that day. They stayed until four or five in the evening since their parents didn't get off work until four themselves, so it was a way to pass the time.

As for the park itself, there was a playground with a swingset and junglegym for the smaller children and a soccer field for the teenagers. A pathway was built for the older generation to walk along and enjoy the greenery that was well taken care of. However, the park was widely known for the crystal like stone memorial wall that surrounded a bronze statue of two young children playing ball with each other. This was the wall dedicated to rising awareness of child abuse; every name carved upon the crystal-like substance was a child who died because of abuse.

Everyday, the two Uchihas would walk by the memorial stone on their way into the park before going about their business for the day. Today was no different, the brothers walked by the crystallized wall and headed straight towards a cluster of trees. For some reason, Sasuke always liked to climb the trees and hide inside the leafy foliage or just try to reach a new all-time high. When his mother first saw him in a tree, climbing so high, she freaked out, thinking her little boy would fall and hurt himself. But as she found her little boy in trees more and more, Mikoto stopped caring and started to call him a little monkey, which Sasuke hated and told his mother he wasn't a monkey but a ninja.

Itachi was right beside his little brother as they trekked over to the tree area; however, Itachi preferred the ground beneath his feet and never climbed any trees. Instead, as Sasuke jumped and grabbed a hold of the lowest branch on one of the trees. Before the boy pulled himself up, the older of the Uchiha brothers began searching the ground. Picking up the occasional stick and examining it before discarding it when the branch didn't meet his examination.

"Here," Sasuke's child like voice said from above Itachi's head. Looking up, the older Uchiha found his brother laying on a sturdy branch, holding out to him a limb of the tree that was straight and had no other twigs growing from the sides.

"Arigatou," Itachi thanked the boy as he took the branch from his brother and moved into the beginning stance. He heard the rustling of the tree as Sasuke started to climb higher up into it and when he couldn't hear his brother anymore, Itachi began to practice his katas with the limb. While Sasuke was the shinobi of the family, he was the samurai. Kendo was one of his hobbies, Itachi's most cherished hobby at that, and he took it very seriously. However, at the moment, his parents wouldn't let him have a real katana to practice with; however, he has been trying to convince them to get him a bokken to practice with if not a real sword.

"Oi, Aniki, what do you think Okaa-san will make for dinner tonight?" Sasuke asked from his perch halfway up the tree.

Slashing the limb down, Itachi looked up out of the corner of his eye at the tree's high branches. "I think Okaa-san mentioned something about having Kitsune-Udon tonight before we left."

A thoughtful expression crossed the little Uchiha's face as he tried to remember what his mother had said before he left for school that morning. Faintly, he remembered his mother saying something about Udon before he left, but he wasn't feeling like himself because he had _the_ nightmare last night.

"And she mentioned something about onigiri as well," his aniki continued, catching Sasuke's attention and perking his interest. Onigiri was one of his favorite foods, because his mother didn't make it that often. Usually, they would have American food more often than Japanese cuisines. He liked both styles of food equally, but most of his favorites were from Japan. Itachi was the same way when it came to food, but he was more of a picky eater.

"Are you serious?" the excitement of the child showing through. "Okaa-san's really going to make onigiri?"

This time, when Itachi looked up upon at the tree, he could see the raven head of his brother's head stick over a tree branch halfway up the tree with an eager expression on his face in anticipation of the promise of onigiri.

A smirk could not help but spread across Itachi's face. "Hai."

* * *

After she finished setting the last plate on the table, Mikoto went back into the kitchen and checked to see if she forgot anything. When she found nothing, the woman took off her red apron and hung it back on the inside of the pantry door with a slight smile on her face. She may not have been able to help her youngest son when it came to his nightmares, but she could make him feel better by cooking him his favorite food. Hopefully, Sasuke was having a good day and he forgot all about the nightmare like he could sometimes, but they were rare as of lately. It was probably the increasing amount of nightmares he had been having lately and how long they had been going. Mikoto herself couldn't remember when the nightmares began, and she wasn't sure if Fugaku could either. Fugaku, who was currently up in his study researching more about nightmares and their causes.

"OKAA-SAN! We're Home!" Sasuke's little voice rose above the sound of the door banging open.

"Tadaima," Itachi's soft voice was covered by the sound of shuffling heard, what Mikoto could only assume was her two boys taking off their shoes and leaving them by the door. Coming from out of the kitchen, she met her sons halfway in the dining room.

"Welcome home," she greeted them, giving each a welcome home kiss on the cheek and a hug while ruffling Itachi's hair affectionately. "Dinner's already ready, so both of you need to run upstairs and clean up."

"Hai," the two brothers answered simultaneously, heading back to the living room and up the stairs to clean up. Sasuke rushed up the stairs in front of his brother.

Before they could get too far away, Mikoto called out to either of her two boys, "And tell your father that dinner's ready, he's in his study."

"Hai." She wasn't quite sure which of her children answered her, his voice muffled through the vast house, but she had a pretty good idea that it was Sasuke. He was in a good mood, the affects of the nightmare not effecting today. If only it would always be like this…if only the nightmare never existed, only then would Mikoto truly find peace in her life. With the knowledge that nothing was plaguing her family, that was her true peace of mind.

Pushing those thoughts out of her head for the moment, Mikoto watched as her boys—all three of them—made their way downstairs. Sasuke was tucked into the arms of Fugaku and Itachi at his side, all three of them chattering away animatedly. They seated themselves in the chairs surrounding the table and waited for her to take her seat before picking up their chopsticks. With a synchronized itadakimasu, the Uchiha family began their evening meal and the usual dinner conversation took its routine course. Talk about how everyone's day went before going everywhere else.

Today's conversation seemed to be centered on Itachi's ongoing quest for his very own katana for his kendo lessons; however, he seemed to change his tactics and was going for a bokken at the moment. Sasuke was trying to help his brother convince Fugaku that their oldest son needed a sword to practice with, and a bokken was perfect since they didn't want him to have a real sword. Mikoto could see her husband look at them very seriously while shaking his head at the boys, having a counter for every reason the two came up with. The glimmer in his eyes going unnoticed by the children, but not by her. Noticing his wife looking his way, Fugaku gave her a wink before putting down another reason. Mikoto couldn't help but chuckle softly, thinking of the wooden bokken currently sitting inside her closet. Her husband just brought home earlier that day along with a new art supplies for Sasuke.

"Koishii, it is not nice to tease the children," Mikoto finally spoke up, watching as the twinkle in Fugaku's eyes went slightly dim at not being able to torment his children any longer. "Let Itachi have his bokken already." A smirk only the Uchiha clan had ever owned spread across her oldest son's face and a dangerous gleam glittered in his eyes. "He deserves it after getting straight A's on his midterm. But-" a meaningful gaze forced Itachi to be humble out of fear of his mother, "-if anything end's up broken in this house, and I do mean anything, then the bokken goes. Am I clear Itachi?"

The teenager nodded his head positively, the smirk back on his face. "Hai, Okaa-san."

"Good, and since Sasuke also got perfect scores on his midterm, I think he deserves that new art set that he's been eyeing. Don't you think so too, Koishii?" Mikoto asked, a sweet look on her face as she looked her husband in the eyes. Unseen by the children, one of Mikoto's hands–hidden by the table–began running up and down her husband's thigh. Seeing the man take a big gulp of nothing, the woman gave an enticing smile just begging for a response.

Another gulp was heard before Fugaku quickly nodded his head positively. "Of course, and once your plates are empty, you can have the presents. They're wrapped and sitting in the closet in your mother's closet." No sooner had the words left his mouth, both Itachi and Sasuke disappeared—racing upstairs towards the main bedroom—their plates already devoid of food. A thank you echoed off of the walls from both boys.

"You did a good thing by getting them those presents, Fugaku-chan," Mikoto giggled, as she began eating again, acting like nothing had happen only seconds before. It didn't take long for Fugaku to react from her obvious disregard of his presence.

A slight, possessive growl escaped the older Uchiha's throat, before the evening was out. His next comment almost caused Mikoto to choke on her food, but being married to one of the best prosecutor nationwide and being a lawyer herself, she had learned to hide her emotions quite well. "Since I was so good, does that mean I get a present tonight too?"

"Only if you behave yourself," was her quick-witted reply. It was accompanied by a passionate kiss, only a taste of what was promised, before the woman got up and left to do the dishes, leaving her husband in her wake with a not so slight problem.

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Okay, so I want to try something new. Each chapter I post, I'm going to ask a question, and for those of you that do review, I hope that you will answer my question. Here's this chapter's question:

What do you think of my versions of Fugaku, Mikoto, and their relationship?

Thanks to all those who have reviewed and who will review in the nearby future!

_**Shi no Tenshi 902**_


	3. Breaking the Barrier

Well, it's just been one week and I got the next chapter out! Isn't that great? Though, this story was only supposed to be three or four chapters long; however, this story isn't going to be. I had the whole thing planned out, which is a new thing for me, cause I just write with only a vague idea in mind. Yet, when I started writing, all this stuff I didn't plan on was thrown into the mix. Now, Naruto, who was supposed to show up in this chapter, hasn't even been seen. But, I promise I get him in the next chapter! Just don't kill me!

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Sasuke was starting to get worried. His brother hadn't come out of school yet, and it was already fifteen minutes after the junior high school's release bell with no sign of Itachi anywhere. At first, Sasuke thought his brother had something he needed finish up so to pass time, he sat on the bench shaded by a giant maple tree just outside of the junior high gates. When a little more time passed by, he took out his new drawing pad and started working on a new picture. He was halfway through a rough sketch of his family, when he realized that twenty minutes had gone by, and there was still no sign of the older Uchiha sibling.

Forty minutes after the bell rang, Itachi walked through the gates with an agitated look on his usually normal static features. He had never shown his emotions out so openly in public like he displayed now. The Uchiha brothers learned to conceal their emotions in public at an early age, out of necessary. They were raised with parents who were famous lawyers, and people tend to try to get information out of the Uchiha children to discredit their father and/or mother in court, even though their parents tried to shield them from such occurrences. Unfortunately, they couldn't protect their sons from everything, especially when the Uchiha siblings were allowed to choose if they wanted to go to private schools or public. Both picked public where they were easy targets to cut-throat defiance attorneys.

"I'm sorry for being late Otouto," Itachi apologized, trying to keep his voice steady but failing miserably. "I had to discuss a big project with one of my teachers."

"Oh." Sasuke wasn't sure what to say in order to cheer him up; instead, he figured changing the subject would be a good idea. "Are we still going to the park?"

If possible, the older Uchiha's bad mood seemed to get worse. His eyes darkened, narrowing into tiny slights, and Sasuke could hear his brother grinding his teeth in annoyance. "No," Itachi growled out, his frustrations clearly being directed elsewhere and not at his little brother. "I have to go to my _partner's_-" the word was spit out in a way that Sasuke figured this person was who the teen was frustrated with, "-house to work on our joint project."

Again. "Oh." Sasuke succeeded in keeping the disappointment from his face, but he couldn't stop from feeling down. They had been going to the park after school since Sasuke entered elementary school, and not going to the park after school hours felt weird.

"Come on, Otouto," Itachi said, some of his frustrations already evaporating. Nodding his head, the little Uchiha followed his brother to his partner's house. Half an hour later, they finally reached the neighborhood where the supposed partner lived, though they would have gotten there faster if it wasn't for the fact they have never been there before and had gotten a little lost. It was good planning that Itachi had written down good directions or they would have been really lost. At the moment, the two brothers stood in front of 4109 North Star Street where a pretty plain one-story brick house resided.

Walking up the concrete pathway and to the solid wood door, Itachi gave a few rapid knocks on the door and stood there waiting. At first, there was no answer, but then a slight thumping sound before footsteps were heard. The footsteps stopped and were replaced by the door's locks being undone. Finally, the door was opened swiftly, and Sasuke got to see his brother's project partner for the first time.

The older boy looked to be the exact same age as Itachi, fourteen, and the exact same height. He had shoulder length red hair pulled up in a high horsetail, though it wasn't bright red, neither was it a dark red. It was just in between, yet there also seemed to be orange coloring intermixed with the red too. His skin was tan from being out in the sun, the tan lines clearly visible with the red muscle shirt he was wearing and black cargo shorts that reached his knees. White socks covered his feet and black fingerless gloves covered his hands. Add that to the three red earrings in his right ear and black ink pen doodles on his arm, this boy was obviously the rebel type. His violet eyes seemed to contradict that fact, being full of life and energetic, even his smile matched his eyes with a happy grin.

Well, at least that was how the redhead teen looked before he took one glance at who was at the door. "Hello, how can I help you-u…" Sasuke could immediately tell that Itachi's partner's voice was at the beginning stages of changing because of puberty. His voice was pleasant sounding, but when he saw the older Itachi at the door, his voice seemed to change as he drew out his last words. "Oh…it's you. So, Mrs. Valens wouldn't let you switch partners?" The question was asked almost mockingly, which caused the annoyance and frustrations that Itachi had lost during their walk over here to reappear in an instance. He was even growling at the redhead in front of Sasuke, but the other teen seemed not to notice or he just didn't care. "Damn, I thought that being teacher's pet would count for something."

Another growl came from the older Uchiha and his body tensed up, just like how Itachi would tense up slightly before following through with an attack in his kendo class. Becoming uncomfortable, Sasuke shifted a little closer to his brother, hoping to calm them both down. From Itachi's sudden tense and ready-to-attack-state to Sasuke's uneasiness, the actions did not go unnoticed by the redhead. The other teen seemed to notice Sasuke for the first time and had to blink, as if he was seeing things and was trying to get rid of the illusions. When the elementary student didn't disappear, the kind smile from before the redhead saw the older Uchiha appeared once again.

"Aren't you going to introduce us, Weasel?" the redhead asked in a taunting manor, which seemed to piss Itachi off along with the degrading nickname he was given.

"This is Sasuke Uchiha, my little brother," Itachi stated in a short voice. He then switched to Japanese when speaking to his brother. "Otouto, this is idiot is Uzumaki Kyuubi. Unfortunately, he's my partner for one of my class projects."

A glare was sent Itachi's way. For some reason, neither brother understood until Kyuubi spoke again. "Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Uzumaki Kyuubi desu," the redhead spoke flawlessly in Japanese, a bit of arrogance mixed in as well. He even gave a bow with both arms at his sides in the traditional Japan greeting.

* * *

The Uzumaki household was as nice and plain on the inside as it was on the outside. The walls were painted white, though a little dingy as if they had been painted years ago and never repainted again. Rusty red tiles made up the flooring, yet there were brown throw-rugs placed in the living room and hallways. Worn heavy woolen curtains were thrown wide open and poured light on the old but well keep furniture in main room. It was the average middleclass house and seemed really homely, but Sasuke could not find it in himself to feel at peace in the house.

Something in the air just didn't sit right with him; Sasuke could feel his eye twitching excessively. Maybe he should have asked Itachi if he could drop him off at home first before he went over to his partner's house. This was ridiculous! They had been at the Uzumaki's house for an hour, and the two teens hadn't even started their project. They hadn't even decided what they were going to do for their project yet! The two were verbally bickering on whose idea for the project they should go with; their yelling was the cause of the young Uchiha's eye twitching. The volume only increased by the minute. Sasuke had never heard his brother yell like he was now, but it was a clear sign that Itachi had an extreme dislike for the Uzumaki.

In the beginning, Sasuke tried to ignore the two. Working on his rough sketch from earlier, the elementary student began to refine the picture. Defining one line while erasing all of the rest, this took him the whole hour. It would have taken him less time if it wasn't for the fighting in the background. He would have continued, but he was fed up with the bickering and it was giving him a headache. Then, there was the fact it was already four o'clock in the evening.

"Aniki," the little Uchiha called out, putting his sketchbook back into his bag; and, effectively shutting the two teenagers up for the first time since the two brothers had stepped foot in the Uzumaki household. "It's four; we've got to start heading home if we want to get home on time."

Glaring one more time at his partner, Itachi began to gather his things. "You're right Otouto, we better get going," the older Uchiha seemed about ready to say something else to Kyuubi, but knowing that they would start bickering again if that happened, Sasuke interrupted.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Kyuubi," the elementary school student intervened before his headache could get worse. Grabbing his brother's arm, he dragged the teen towards the door, and both put their shoes back on. Kyuubi followed them to the door, growling at Itachi the whole way and muttering something about evil weasels. Once they both had their shoes on, the two walked out the door which was being held open by the redhead out of courtesy; however, the boy would have rather slam the door on Itachi and cause him physical harm. "Sayonara."

"Ja matta Sasuke, it was a pleasure meeting you," the Uzumaki said, smiling genuinely. However, when he turned to look at the older Uchiha, Kyuubi's expression changed instantly into a scowl. "Hopefully I don't see you at school tomorrow, Weasel!" Kyuubi said rather cheerfully before slamming the door in their face–which was only really meant for Itachi–and footsteps could be heard walking away from the door on the other side. Following in the redhead's example–even though he could not see Kyuubi–Itachi turned on his heels and began storming away from the door. He didn't even make sure that his brother was following him, which Sasuke was, but he didn't seem to care.

The thirty minute journey back to the Uchiha house was made in complete silence. Itachi was too engrossed with his thoughts on how to kill his partner and get away with it. The redhead wasn't worth going to jail over; but if he could get rid of the teen without going to jail, the older of the Uchiha siblings would gladly do it. Sadly, for the life of him, Itachi could not figure out a way to properly get rid of the body without being caught. As for Sasuke, he kept quiet voluntarily after catching the murderous look on his brother's face. However, Sasuke would have to admit, that the sadistic smirk that followed after only to be replaced with a frown made the young raven worry about his brother's health, mentally that is.

When they finally made it back to their house, the brothers took their shoes off after a quick "tadaima", dropped their bags next to the couch, and followed the smell of food to the dining room, where their mother had dinner already on the table and was currently seated with their father talking while waiting for them. Once the two boys stepped into the room, their parents' conversation ended abruptly.

"Konban wa," Sasuke greeted his parents, going over to his chair and pulling it out.

"Gomennasai," Itachi apologized as he sat in his own seat, "we're late, time seemed to speed by without my knowledge."

Serving Itachi some of the spaghetti she made, Mikoto smiled at her sons. "It's okay, you weren't that long. I just got finished with dinner actually."

Nodding his head in understanding, Itachi dug into his spaghetti after giving his thanks for the food. Their conversation continued, with his mother asking how their day was between bits of their meal and ideal chitchat. Usually, his answers were short and a little snappish since Kyuubi had left a sour taste in his mouth. He was calming down being surrounded by his family and not the annoying redhead. Eventually, he couldn't help but be interested in the new case his father had. Apparently, there had been some type of negligence homicide. A foreign diplomat, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was killed in a car accident, a hit and run. The police had arrested Marco Owen for the crime; however, he didn't do it, but the evidence was piled up against him. He was lucky Fugaku was not only his attorney for the case but believed him as well. Needless to say, the case was going in Owen's favor.

"So, Itachi, what are you doing for this project you were talking about yesterday?" Fugaku asked, once he finished his retell of court that day and the table had lapsed into a momentary silence. He did not miss the way his eldest son used his fork to stab one of the meatballs on his plate or the glare that was being sent to the red sauce covered ball of meat. Neither did Mikoto; and both were surprised at their static son's unusual behavior.

"Nothing, as of yet. I cannot seem to get my partner to understand that this is both of our project and not just his. His ideas are too childish," the teen boy almost seemingly growled out the last part of his sentence. The ball of meat was shoved into his mouth after his reply and devoured with great vigor. Sasuke just knew his brother was imaging the meatball covered in red sauce was Kyuubi's head and he was taking great delight in mutilating it with his teeth.

As for Mikoto and Fugaku, they were now very interested in Itachi's partner. They had never seen their first born act this way and were amused more than anything. It seemed Itachi wasn't as emotionless as he tried to be, and this new partner seemed to bring out his locked-up tight emotions. Mikoto couldn't wait to meet this boy, and Fugaku wanted to know how Itachi's partner seemed to invoke his son's anger so easily; after all, Uchihas prided themselves in being able to hold their tempers.

"Who's your partner? What's he like?" Mikoto asked in curiosity.

A dark look crossed Itachi's face and another growl threatened to escape his lips, but it never did. "His name is Uzumaki Kyuubi, he's half Japanese, half American, and a total idiot. He also very childish." He would have gone on belittling if Sasuke had not snorted and gained both of his parents' attention.

"As if you were any better, Aniki," the little raven chilled in his childish voice. "You were yelling at him just as loud as he was yelling at you and arguing like children."

"Oh, really, now?" Mikoto asked, her curiosity growing with each passing second. Now she really wanted to meet this Kyuubi; he sound very fascinating. "Do say more."

A groan escaped Itachi's mouth. As his little brother betrayed him and eagerly told their parents about what had transpired earlier today. The older Uchiha sibling wished he would turn invisible or disappear.

* * *

The rest of the week continued much the same. School for the Uchiha brothers was the same; getting chased down by their fans, and in Itachi's case, getting bugged to death by Kyuubi remained the same. Then, instead of going to the park as they had after school, they would go over to the Uzumaki's house so the two teens could work on their project. Thankfully, they had gotten further and knew what they were doing with their project and not arguing over it or else Sasuke would have gone insane listening to the two. However, they were still bickering with each other about one aspect of their project or another. And when four o' clock came around, the younger Uchiha would break the two apart and drag Itachi out of the house to go home before they started fighting once again.

Finally, it was the weekend and instead of cleaning the house or having a family outing, Sasuke was stuck once again with Itachi and Kyuubi. Their project was due on the upcoming Friday and to get everything they needed done on time, they had to give up some of their time on the weekend. Sasuke believed if they spent less time arguing and more time working, they wouldn't have to give up their weekends. Then, he wouldn't be dragged along on this endeavor either. It was appreciated that they decided to meet at the park instead of Uzumaki's household.

This meant that while they were working, the little raven didn't have to be stuck in the house while they argued. Sasuke had freedom to roam the park; in addition, he didn't have to listen to Itachi's snippy comments or Kyuubi's snide comebacks. He could climb the trees and sit on one of the branches to work on his sketches or whatever else he felt like doing. That was exactly what the little Uchiha did until lunchtime rolled around. Sasuke heard his brother yelling. Only this time Itachi wasn't yelling at Kyuubi but yelling for him to come down for lunch.

Swinging out of the tree, the little raven walked towards the picnic table the two teens were working at. The table was covered in papers, a blank poster board, and, of course, Kyuubi and Itachi were arguing on opposing benches. Yep, everything was just the way he had left it. Nothing seemed to have changed.

Seeing that his little brother had arrived, Itachi cleared an area on the table for him so Sasuke had room to eat on without ruining any of his work. Sasuke sat down next to him after Itachi scooted out of the way, ready to eat. He was impatient to eat as well since their mother made them each an obento. She said it was special lunch for the both of them since she had to go to work that weekend–the reason why Sasuke had to be with Itachi and Kyuubi instead of being at home with his parents–to help their father finish up the Sarutobi case. There had been some unexpected evidence the prosecution had obtained which incriminated Marco Owen and they had a lot of work to do, which left the brothers home alone. Or they would have been if they had not gone out to meet Kyuubi.

Pulling out the polished wooden obento, Itachi set the decent sized box in front of him before pulling the top off and revealing two meat buns, onigiri and some sliced fruit. Sasuke had a similar meal; however, he had tomatoes for his fruit. Itachi was about to grab the chopstick which were provided for him, but his lunch was pulled away. His head shot up and a growl escaped his lips when he noticed the Uzumaki had taken his lunch. Before he could say anything though, the lunch was pushed back in front of him and Kyuubi was giving him a weird look.

"What?" Itachi snapped, pulling his lunch closer to him and holding on so the redhead couldn't steal it again. "Never seen an obento before?"

The strange look on the Uzumaki's face turned into a scowl. "Of course, I know what an obento is. I'm half Japanese, remember? Or has your ego grown so much that it's affecting your brain now too?"

"Then why did you have to go and steal my obento if it wasn't for inquiring reasons?" The sneer was lost on the redhead, seeing as he was busy searching through his worn backpack. Kyuubi seemed to find what he was looking for and pulled out a small shabby obento box which sides were rounded off by age. Uzumaki Kyuubi was scratched into the surface of the top of the teen's lunch box in squiggly hiragana. There was something else written in hiragana on the wooden box as well in a much neater handwriting; however, it was scratched out beyond legibility. The only character visible was the very first character on the box—which was the character for "Na"—and the rest was hidden under angry scratch marks.

"For comparison," the Uzumaki replied as he flipped open the top of his lunchbox. Inside of his obento, a whole rice and curry chicken meal was artistically displayed. Curry sauce was dribbled over the chicken and rice in a strange whirlpool design with other wavy designs on the outer edge. There was also a dragon fruit cutout of a nine-tailed fox in the obento along with a star fruit cutout of the kanji character for kitsune neatly set to the side of the curry meal, which finished off the garnished obento. "See, mine's better."

* * *

What part do you like better, the Uchihas meeting Kyuubi at the door or Kyuubi stealing Itachi's obento for comparison?

Thanks to the people who reviewed, I show you my graditude with the new chapter and to all those that read, thanks too.

_**Shi no Tenshi 902**_


	4. Uzumaki Household

Sorry, this was supposed to be out yesterday, but my internet went down. But, as I said, Naruto shows up in this chapter. So, go read.

* * *

This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't be happening! It was only supposed to be a dream; the hellish knife shouldn't have even been real! But it was, and Itachi and Kyuubi were headed straight for the blade sitting dangerously on the shelf and one of them was bound to be thrown into the knife. They were too caught up in their fight, the first physical fight Sasuke had ever seen them get into over some silly little matter. The young Uchiha couldn't even remember what it was over, he was frozen in both mind and body. He couldn't yell out or warn them. It was horrible.

The whole day had been horrible for Sasuke.

* * *

He was running, running away from the white walls dyed red, the rusty red tiles collecting the metallic liquid. He keep on running, out of the house and down the familiar street. Cutting through the park, Sasuke took a shortcut, bypassing the Junior High School and going straight towards his elementary school. The body of people he had regularly seen at the park or even just caught a glimpse of just once were corpses were scattered on the ground of the green common area that were now a horrid brown color. He didn't stay long, he couldn't make himself look at the deceased who he knew all died from stabbed wounds. At his elementary school, the students were tossed about the schoolyard; the murderer had already come here as well. However, Sasuke couldn't stop running; he kept going.

He was being chased, his own doom impending. His assailant was nowhere insight, but Sasuke could feel him. The eyes shinning with insanity were piercing into his body, he could feel the wicked grin next to his ear, and he could hear the knife slicing through the still air. The blood of its victims splashing against the ground, turning more of the world a wretched red color. He was scared, but something else kept him going. He needed to get help and help was around the corner. His brain was telling him his salvation was in his reach.

Turning the corner, a hand roughly grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back. A blade plunging into Sasuke's back and a scream tore through pale lips.

* * *

Fugaku had just come from his oldest son's room—checking to see if the boy was awake and getting ready for the day ahead—and walked down the hallway when he heard the terrorizing scream. His pace quickened, and in his hast, the man jerked the door open with too much force, which didn't register to him once he saw his youngest on the floor. His rational mind told him that Sasuke had fallen off the bed trying to escape from the covers on his bed. However, Fugaku wasn't listening to his rational side when his dark eyes caught sight of a red metallic liquid trailing down a pale cheek and dripping on the carpet.

The father was by his son's side instantly. Checking the boy over for the source of the blood and locating it hiding beneath the black tresses. The wound was a fairly good size gash located right above the temple and Fugaku was having a hard time examining the wound when Sasuke wouldn't move.

"Sasuke," Fugaku called out to his son, his voice full of his own terror at the child's lack of motion. When his son did not answer him back and only starred at his hands which were sprinkled with blood, the man's parental instincts kicked in and Fugaku scooped up Sasuke in his arms. He briskly walked–as to not jar Sasuke too much nor aggravate his head wound–down the hallway he had just came from.

Itachi, who had heard the scream of his little brother when he was in the shower, just came out of the bathroom with his clothes thrown on hazardously and about to dash to his otouto's room. However, when he saw Sasuke in the arms of their father with a glazed look in his eyes and blood flowing down his face, the older Uchiha sibling could have sworn he felt his heart pause for a moment.

"What happened?" the teenage Uchiha demanded, following after his father.

Fugaku just threw a worried look towards Itachi before descending the stairs. His footsteps drowned out by his voice echoing off the walls. "Mikoto! Call the doctor!"

"What? Why?" the woman asked, turning around from the kitchen counter. Her casual demeanor disappeared once she saw Sasuke bleeding in her husband's arms. "Kami-sama!" Mikoto gasped, her voice turning frantic as she rushed over to Fugaku's side. "What happened?"

"He hit his head on the nightstand when he fell out of his bed," her husband answered back in Japanese, seeing Mikoto's emotions got the better of her, reverting her back to their ancestors' home tongue. While he was talking, the head of the Uchiha household carefully set the youngest member of the family up-right on the counter. Nodding her head, Mikoto ran to the phone and started to dial their personal doctor's number. Thankfully the doctor was part Japanese as well and could understood Mikoto even in her hysteric state as Fugaku tried to once again examine Sasuke's head. "Itachi, go get the first aid kit, the one in the pantry."

"Hai," Itachi replied. It would seem the teenage Uchiha had the same habit as his mother, reverting to Japanese when his emotions took hold.

It didn't take but a minute for Itachi to retrieve the first aid kit as well as a small bowl of water and cloth. The kit was handed to Fugaku, who accepted it with a grateful smile, before opening the box and rummaging through it for any useful item. While his father searched through their disorganized first aid kit, Itachi took it upon himself to clean his little brother's bloody hands with a damp cloth. As little hands were washed clean and become devoid of the red substance, the clear water became tinted red. Lethargically, the child blinked his eyes a few times before they attempted to focus themselves.

Moving for the first time, Sasuke looked up with slightly dazed eyes. "Otou-san?" the child spoke, confusion of what was going on clouding his voice. "My head hurts."

"I know," Fugaku said, relief flooding from his voice and seeping into his eyes. "You fell out of bed and bumped your head badly. For now, I need you to stay as still as you can until the doctor comes. Can you do that for me? Please?"

Sasuke didn't answer right away and both of the present Uchihas thought he had gone back into his dazed state, but the small nodding of his head a few seconds later diminished that thought.

* * *

The doctor had arrived less than an hour later and tended to the small Uchiha. She had examined the head wound first and shined a flashlight pen in his eyes to make sure he didn't have any brain trauma since he was showing mild signs of a concussion. Thankfully, he had gone off with a small knot on the head and a warning to take it easy for a little while, which meant no climbing any trees for a week or two. The doctor said he was lucky he didn't need to have any stitches. If the cut had been anymore deeper or a little longer, then he would have to be stitched up.

The physician also recommended he stay home from school that day and rest; however, Uchihas weren't keen on listening to others and with much persuasion and reassurance that he was fine, Sasuke went to school with the promise he would go to the nurse if he didn't feel well. Though he had arrived at the elementary school two hours late, his teacher didn't hold it against him, having already been informed of Sasuke's condition and told to keep an eye on the boy. The day passed by slowly for the young boy, he was keep inside the whole day so the teacher could keep an eye on him and his fan club had caught on that something was up. All of them tried to baby the Uchiha to make him feel better, but all they really ended up doing was pestering him. To top it all off, he wasn't allowed to walk to the junior high school alone and had to stay in after school study hall with his teacher for forty minutes before Itachi could picked him up.

By the time his brother came to get him, Sasuke was tired, he wanted to go home and go to bed, but the thoughts of the dream keep replaying over and over in his head. He couldn't concentrate and Itachi had even volunteered to take him home before going over to Kyuubi's house. However, he didn't want to be alone right now, as appealing as going home seemed, Sasuke knew he couldn't stand being inside their empty house all by himself. The terror of the dream would once again grip hold of his mind and without anyone else around, he might fall victim to his fears.

His brother was reluctant to let him tag along; yet, he himself didn't want to leave Sasuke home alone either. Itachi would have just cancelled with his partner and stayed home with his little brother if it wasn't for the fact that today was the day before their project was due. His ethics wouldn't allow him to leave the rest of the project up to Kyuubi, even if a majority of it was already done and there was only a few minor details left to fix up. Itachi was stuck between a rock and a hard place; he could neither leave Sasuke alone nor Kyuubi. He had to bring the little raven along with him to the Uzumaki household.

The usual walk to the Uzumaki house seemed to pass by slower than normal, the usual chitchat nonexistent. The day was heavy and somehow, Kyuubi had sensed it. Itachi wasn't quite sure how the redhead knew; he just did; for when they arrived at the house and knocked on the door, Kyuubi didn't answer in his normal robust way. He let them in without an exchange of name-calling between him and Itachi and lead them into the living room. Although he was short with Itachi, instructing him to get his part of the project set up on the table, the redhead held concern for Sasuke.

With his brother busy getting his stuff together, Kyuubi turned his attention to him. "You okay Sasuke?" The question surprised Sasuke, because the redhead sound really worried about him. They had never really talked at all, just traded pleasantries and all. Nothing more, nothing less. So his show of concern had Sasuke somewhat bewildered.

"I'm fine," Sasuke replied, not really knowing what else to say in this kind of situation. By the looks of it though, Kyuubi didn't seemed convince, not with the slight downward turn on the corner of his lips showing his doubt.

"You don't look so good," the teen spoke up on his doubts. A tan hand automatically moving beneath black bangs and resting on the elementary student's forehead before the child could even comprehend what was happening. The action startled Sasuke to the point that he missed Kyuubi's frown deepening. "You don't have a fever. Not yet at least, but you do feel a little warm-" the hand upon Sasuke's forehead was pulled back "-I think it would be best if you lied down for a little while, okay?" The young Uchiha could do little more than nod his head, which earned him a bright smile from the redhead before he was ushered over to the couch. "Good. Now if you start feeling any worse, don't be afraid to speak up. I'm sure Weasel would take you home if you don't feel up to staying. Sounds good? Great!" Kyuubi answered for him.

A second later, Sasuke was left in peace lying on the couch with a heavy faded orange blanket draped over the top of him. A blanket which smelled different than the rest of the house, yet, at the same time it smelt the same. There was something in the air that made the house smell bitter to Sasuke, but whatever it was, wasn't on the orange covering. The blanket actual smelled pretty good, not like any flowers or foods like some people would describe, it was its own unique smell that couldn't be quite categorized. The scent was soothing to the point that the young Uchiha could feel the terror and fear of the nightmare drain out of him and lured him into a blissful sleep.

The next time Sasuke opened his eyes, it was because of the shouting going on between Itachi and Kyuubi. The two had been quiet for almost a whole hour after seeing Sasuke was asleep, but they just couldn't seem to go one day without arguing with each other. They had tried to keep it down; really, they had, but they couldn't help themselves and it ended up in another yelling match. Seeing that there was no way he was going to go back asleep anytime soon, Sasuke took the time to really look around the Uzumaki's living room.

Before, he had made note of the china cabinet that took up one whole corner of the room with a bookcase that went from floor to ceiling right beside it. The couch he was now lying on was pushed up near the wall, right under the window. An armchair that matched the couch was sitting adjacent from him facing an almost blank wall. The only item on that side of the room was a large plasma flat-screen television. It was the newest piece of furniture in the house, something that always struck Sasuke as odd, since the high priced television always stood out in the otherwise middleclass household. But the elementary student had seen all this before, and his eyes were looking for new things, to better understand Kyuubi and the way he had acted at the thought of him being sick.

While Sasuke looked around the room, the pair that had unknowingly awoken the young child had reached a new level of their arguments. Itachi had said something—even he did not know what—that set the Uzumaki off and had him pouncing across the table, trying to get a piece of the Uchiha. His kendo training kicked in on instinct and Itachi in self-defense punched Kyuubi to get him off. He hadn't expected the redhead to shake off the punch like it was nothing and retaliate with one of his own, right to the gut. That was when the real fight started between the two teens who were currently acting like children.

It was for the first time that Sasuke noticed that one of the shelves on the bookcase wasn't covered with books or pictures like the rest of the shelves, but was solely dedicated to a collection of blades. There were different era and makes of European knives and daggers and even a full length European sword cluster on the far right of the shelf. Scattered over the shelf, the knives and daggers began to change from European to Eastern Asia before being replaced by Asian daggers and knives. All of which were safely keep in their sheaths or displayed in glass boxes; all but one. It was well hidden, situated at the end of the shelf, lodged in between the side of the bookcase and a glass box holding a tonto. A place where it was practically unseen, a blind spot, if one wasn't really looking for it and if anyone were to simply walk by the bookcase a severe cut would be the result.

The mere sight of the knife had Sasuke petrified. The diamond shaped blade. The long handle wrapped with worn white material. It was all the exact same as in his nightmare. Down to the various scratches on the metal and how the white material was knotted at the end. It was the replica of the blade in his dream. The one that always was killing the people closest to him. Torturing them before they could die. The blade that caused so much anguish and mental distress; the cause of many sleepless nights was real. The hellish knife _was real _and the fighting teens were tumbling hazardously around the room were headed straight for it.

* * *

_That_ was how bad Sasuke Uchiha's day had been and it was about to get worse from the looks of it. He couldn't make his body respond; he wanted to callout and stop the disaster before it happened. He didn't want to see anyone go to the hospital. He didn't want to see anyone get hurt because of the hellish knife. He didn't want his nightmare to become reality!

The thought of his nightmare caused Sasuke to become mute. He was preventing from shout his warning. The thought of his nightmare becoming reality had Sasuke deaf. He couldn't hear anything around him. All he could do was watch from his place on the couch. It was almost like he was watching a silent movie in color. A horror flick that he couldn't do anything to change the outcome, that's when it happened.

"Alright you two," a mellow toned voice rang out through the room as the owner of the voice forcefully pulled the two fighting teens away from each other and–more importantly–away from the knife. "Break it up; break it up before someone gets hurt."

"But Anii-" Kyuubi complained, drawing out his words. Not once did the redhead try to dislodge the hand holding the back of his grey muscle shirt as if he was used to the action and, for all Sasuke knew, it could have been a regular occurrence for the Uzumaki. As for Itachi, he was too stunned at being pulled apart to even try and get away from the hand that gripped the back of his black shirt. The little Uchiha would have commented on the blank look his brother had in his eyes, but he was too focused on the person standing in between the two teens, holding the backs of their shirts.

The person was in his late teens, seventeen at the most. He was a little more than a head taller than Itachi—the older Uchiha siblings barely reached the teenager's shoulder—but Sasuke knew that his father would tower over the young man. Bright blond hair was in a messy disarray, almost like the teen had just gotten out of bed, and fell into aquatic blue eyes. The older teen was just as tan as Kyuubi was, but no tan lines were visible since the blond wore dark blue jeans and black long sleeved shirt with a light weight sleeveless green vest over it. Even his feet were covered in socks; the only skin visible was on his hands and face, both of which were the flawlessly tanned.

"Don't you 'but Anii me' Kyuubi," the blue-eyed blond reprimanded the redhead, who bowed his head in shame. "One of you could have seriously gotten hurt with you guys' rough housing. You're lucky nobody did." A meaningful look was sent to the redhead in the blond's hold. "Now there would be something to come home to after a long day at high school, two bloody teenage idiots who can't seem to get along."

"Gomennasai, Anii," the Uzumaki apologized, his head dropping lower.

"Good," the blond said, the hand holding Kyuubi releasing the redhead. He then turned his attention to the other teen in his hands. "And what about you?"

Startled that he was now the one in the line of fire, Itachi gulped slightly, not used to being on the receiving hand of a reprimand. He was the good kid at school; never did he get in trouble and never being in this kind of situation before either. Truth be told, it was kind of scary.

Swallowing his fears, the older Uchiha had to work to find his own voice. "I'm sorry as well."

"Apologies accepted," the older teen smiled; his whole demeanor changing to a friendlier one. "Now, if I'm not mistaken, you two have a project to finish, am I right?"

"Hai!" Kyuubi chirped happily, his attitude changing, like he hadn't been scolding only seconds before, just like the blond. Turning around, the redhead headed back towards the table he and Itachi had been working on before their fight had begun. The distinct clearing of one's throat stopped him in his trek. Turning back to the older teenager, Kyuubi saw the blond raise one of his eyebrows when he didn't answer his unasked question. "What?"

"Aren't you forgetting something Kyuubi?" Blue eyes darting over to the Uchiha by the blond's side before locking with violet eyes once again.

"Oh, yeah!" the redhead exclaimed, realizing what the blond was implying. "Anii, this is Itachi Uchiha and his younger brother over there on the couch is Sasuke."

"Nice to meet you Itachi. Sorry to yell at you, but you two were getting a little too close to my dad's knife collection for comfort," the teen gave out his own apology accompanied by a small bow.

Itachi nodded his head in understanding. "It's okay, I understand-" the Uchiha trailed off. He didn't know what the other teen's name was and he was hoping for Kyuubi to realize he had yet to introduce the blond. However, the redhead was too dense to realize it and Itachi had to jab him in the ribs to get through to the Uzumaki.

"Ittai," Kyuubi yelped out, "what was that for?" A glare was sent his way by the Uchiha, which he interpreted easily. "Sheeze, all you had to do was ask. The physical abuse was unnecessarily." Another glare. "Okay, okay! I knew I never liked weasels for a reason." Not only did Kyuubi receive a third glare from Itachi, but a chuckle came from the blond. "Anyways, this is my older brother—my Anii—Naruto."

* * *

Yeah! Naruto finally made his appearance! See, said I was going to have Naruto show up in this chapter and I kept to what I said.

How was Naruto's not so grand entrance?

_**Shi no Tenshi 902**_


	5. The Differences of Time

They were at it again. He tried to ignore it and concentrate on the drawing pad in front of him. It wasn't working. Sasuke could feel his eyebrow starting to twitch. His annoyance growing with each passing second as they continued on with their activities. They being Uchia Itachi and Uzumaki Kyuubi, the two people he was trying not to kill at the moment. Sadly, the youngest Uchiha was reaching his breaking point and was about to snap.

"Alright you two, break it up," Naruto said, pulling the two teenagers apart. An action that he had become accustomed to with the amount of time the Uchihas had spent at the Uzumaki household. "You know, I liked it better when you two were at each other's throats, not in them."

Sasuke couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face as he turned his attention back to the sketchpad in his hands. Things had certainly changed in the last two and a half years since meeting the Uzumaki brothers. Time had gone by and the world had not stayed idle, neither had Sasuke. No longer was Sasuke the young twelve year old elementary adolescent, now he was a fifteen year old teenage high school freshman. He had grown up.

Sasuke's hair had lengthened to the point where he could spike it out in the back in his own unique style while the bangs fell just right. A lot of his baby fat was lost and replaced with muscular build thanks to kendo classes; though, there was still some baby fat lingering as he was still growing. The lost of his baby fat allowed more of his predominate features to show through, making him seem slightly older than he really was. His pale skin stayed the same shade, no matter how much time he seemed go spend outside it never tanned, only burned; a trait that he seemingly inherited from his mother.

He hadn't just changed physically, he had matured as well. Sasuke had learned to school his emotions better, and he was still secluded from his peers, but he never cared. He spent most of his time in the library during his early junior high year which really paid off for him, seeing as he skipped eighth grade and became a freshman in high school this year. He had to admit that high school was different than what he had thought, which was good, since he wasn't the center of attention. His brother was. His teachers like him enough, though, they would have liked him better if the young teen actually talked to them of his own free will and not just answer questions when asked.

His brother had grown a lot as well. The seventeen year old had just gone through a growth spur and was almost as tall as Fugaku now and looked slightly like him as well; his facial weren't as hard as his father's though. Unlike Sasuke, Itachi was actually able to get a slight tan, though not as nearly as dark as the Uzumakis had. As for his hair, he keep it in customary horsetail with long bangs that parted on either side of his face as to not get in the way; though Itachi would never let his hair go further than his mid back. The one time he hadn't cut it when it got longer than some of the girls at his school, Kyuubi had called him Weasel-chan until the Uchiha had enough and had to go to the barber out of sheer annoyance.

Itachi, now a junior in high school, was the student body president. It was a high honor and accomplishment for being the first junior to be elected into the president position. As a straight A student; he was the perfect student, the teachers just adored him because he was always willing to help when asked and did that little extra to make him stand out from his peers. It wasn't just the teachers, the student population like Itachi as well, especially among his female peers. He was just as willing to help his classmates as he would help a teacher and never held it above anyone that they ask him for his assistance.

As for Kyuubi, he had lost what little baby fat he had when the Uchihas met him and was replaced with pure muscle. His arms were large, but not bulkily so, with his veins easily seen and a dark tan up until the middle of his biceps where a lighter tan covering the remained of his arms. As for the rest of his body, it was lean and well tone with a few visible scars he would proudly tell anyone who listen from what fight he got it from and how. Three small ruby studs that lined Kyuubi's right earlobe—his sixteenth birthday present—and a black tattoo of paw prints circled around his left bicep—his seventeenth birthday present—were all new additions. The redhead had keep his hair the same, long enough to put in to a high horsetail and spike it out a little at the ends. There was only one thing that the Uzumaki didn't like about himself was the fact he was on the short side—only coming up to Itachi's chin and, much to Kyuubi's chagrin, the same height as Sasuke—which drove the teen crazy.

The redhead was the bad boy of the school. Constantly in trouble for one thing or another and half the school population hated him for his antics. Some of the other students just ignored him—mostly the upperclassmen—while some actually looked up to Kyuubi. The teachers couldn't handle him, but they couldn't get him suspended or expelled. Hell, he seemed to know exactly how far he could push each of his teachers before they broke and gave him a detention. That was a line Kyuubi would never break, it was his way of staying out of trouble. So he didn't have the best track record and wasn't a straight A student, but he wasn't a junkie or a failure either. His grades were average, a troublemaker, and he was hated by half the school for being openly gay. No, they didn't hate him for being gay, it was the twenty-first century and being different wasn't frowned up. Hell, no one really cared what gender someone else preferred. It was who you liked that mattered and Kyuubi was hated because he was currently dating the school's heartthrob and current president, a.k.a. Itachi.

And Naruto, Naruto hadn't changed too much. He hadn't let his hair get long at all, always keeping it short and seemingly never combing it since the golden locks were in a constant spiky disarray mess. His physique hadn't changed at all, maybe he grew an inch or two in the last few years but that was it. When he noticed that Sasuke stood a little taller than his shoulder, the blond had complained that he was forever cursed to be short, blamed it on the fact that being short ran in his mother side of the family. Other than that, Naruto was the same; the same nice and cheerful blond that Sasuke had meet all those years ago.

* * *

"Sasuke, right?" Kyuubi's brother, Naruto, asked him after having forced the two junior high students back to doing their project.

Not quite sure how to approach the older Uzumaki, Sasuke did nothing more than nodded his head. He didn't know what to think of the blond, seeing as Naruto had kept his nightmare from becoming reality and, to top it off, he made Itachi apologize. His brother never apologized as far as he could remember, but the blond had him asking for forgiveness with just one look. Sasuke didn't know what to think and on instinct, he pulled the blanket Kyuubi had lent him closer around his body. An action that was not missed by aquatic blue eyes, following his movements, a lopsided smile appearing on the teen's face.

"You not feeling well?" Naruto asked. A shake of the head was all the answer he got, but the Uzumaki didn't seem to care. "Gets some sleep then, it make you feel better. I'll have you brother call your parents to tell them to come and pick you up if you want." A shake of the head caused the blond to frown. "No? Are you sure?" Nod. "Well, if you're sure then. In the mean time, hopefully my blanket will be enough to keep you warm until Itachi is ready to take you home, seeing as my little brother doesn't like to share his blanket with anyone." Sasuke was glad Naruto had turned his attention towards Kyuubi—the last part being aimed at the redhead—since he knew the blond would have notice the blush on his cheeks otherwise.

"Hey!" Kyuubi shouted out indignantly, his focus being turned away from the project once again. "I do too share! It's just…your blanket was closer at the time. Okay?"

"Whatever you say Kyuu, whatever you say. Just get your project done," Naruto waved offhandedly, before whispering in a lower voice that only Sasuke could hear. "His bedroom is closer than mine and I know for a fact I left my blanket on my bed before I left today. He's just doesn't want you to see the cute little foxes that are imprinted on his blanket, it would ruin his bad-boy image."

A quirk of a smile twitched at the ends of Sasuke's lip and he had to keep himself from chuckling. "Well, I'll going to make sure that those two are actually working on their project and not just plotting different ways to kill each other. Though, I honestly think that you should be home sick in bed, not on some stranger's couch. But if you're sure you want to stay until your brother is finished," another nod, "then who am I to judge. If you need anything, speak up, okay?"

Again, all Naruto received was a nod of his head in understanding.

"Not much of a talker are you?" the blond asked more to himself than to the young Uchiha.

Not knowing what else to do, Sasuke did the first thing that came to him mind. "Thank you." He didn't know what he was thanking the blond for, if it was for saving his brother and stopping his nightmare form happening or for Naruto caring for his health. Either way, he meant it.

"You're welcome," the blond answered, after getting over the slight shock that the little raven actually said something to him instead of nodding or shaking his head.

Before he would have exited the room, Naruto turned to give on last glance at him—for whatever reason Sasuke still did not know of to this very day—a smile on his lips. That smile was the first time he had felt something from the simple gesture; though, he didn't know what the feeling was.

* * *

He may have not known what the feeling he felt was when he first saw Naruto smile at him then, but Sasuke was only twelve at that time. He knew what he felt now. Looking from the sketchpad with his rough sketch of Naruto pulling Itachi and Kyuubi apart and away from the kunai–he had once asked Naruto what type of blade the knife was and was rewarded with a small history lesson on the knife's origins and how it was used by shinobi–to the scene in front of him of Naruto pulling Itachi and Kyuubi apart from their heated make-out session, Sasuke could identify exactly what he felt for the blond.

He had a crush on Naruto.

He first figured this out about six months after he meet Naruto for the first time. Some girls were chattering away happily during the rare free time they had in class one day and usually Sasuke never paid any heed to them. That day they were just talking way too loud and he tried to ignore the talkative females, but when he clearly heard what they were talking about, he became more interested. One of the girls was telling her friends how she really like this new student and the others were denying her feelings, pushing them off as nothing. The first girl than described the exact same way how Sasuke felt when he first encountered Naruto and how he felt every time he thought of the blond. The girls then had their "awing" moment, but by that time the raven wasn't listening. He was too busy processing what that meant for him.

He liked someone almost four years older than him and if that wasn't bad enough, the person was the same gender as he was. That in itself scared him more than anything. He had always heard how people liking the same gender were frowned upon and discriminated against. He thought it was wrong to like the blond, he tried to not think about him. However, the more he tried to forget about the teen he had only met once, the more and more he thought about Naruto. When he came to the forced conclusion that he would never see the blond again, he started to let go of the idea of having any romantic feelings for the older Uzumaki all together.

Sasuke forced himself to forget about Naruto and focus on his studies. Though, this left him confused and worried. He didn't want to be anymore different than he already was, his nightmares keep him segregated from people, but if he was gay–or bisexual at the very least–than he would no doubtable be bullied and snubbed by his peers. Sasuke would even bring dishonor to his family and he didn't want that, it would only cause more problems for them. Not after his parents and brother were there for him every time he had a nightmare and dealt with it without complaint.

It was very close to the end of the school year when Sasuke's thoughts on his family's reaction to homosexuals changed. He was slightly surprised when he reached the gates of the junior high to find not only Itachi waiting for him, but Kyuubi was with him. Both boys seemed very nervous at first and it confused the little Uchiha. For one, he hadn't heard of the redhead from his brother since they had that project and the only thing he had heard was that their project was one of the most creative in the class. But that was months ago and since then Itachi seemed back to his normal self. Something that Sasuke kind of missed, seeing his otherwise emotionless brother being pulled from his shell and made to react.

Sasuke had to admit the walk to the park that day had been a little awkward. Kyuubi had come with them and after they reached the park, the atmosphere lighten up when the redhead declared a race to the other side of the park and proceeded to take off running without warning. Itachi stood there for a second, not sure what to do, before Sasuke made the choice for him and raced after the Uzumaki leaving him all alone. A second later, he too raced after them.

Kyuubi won the race by his cheap shot and spent the whole time with the Uchiha siblings stayed at the park with them. He bugged Itachi to teach him how to do some of the kendo moves he was practicing, which surprisingly enough, the older Uchiha showed him after much complaining. Sasuke sat up in his usual tree, his drawing pad in hand as he sketched the scene below since it held his fascination. The two who were fighting like cats and dogs—or weasels and foxes as Kyuubi had commented one time—were actually getting along. It was different.

Bewilderment had started to seep in when they were going home and Kyuubi again tagged along with. Itachi doing nothing to stop him and actual mocking the redhead when he seemed to have second thoughts about going to the Uchiha house. Their parents had openly welcomed Kyuubi when he had been introduced to them as Itachi's friend and Mikoto had invited him to stay for dinner. It was half way through dinner when Itachi dropped the bombshell that Kyuubi was not a mere friend but his boyfriend. Sasuke had almost choked on his food at hearing his brother abrupt announcement.

Millions of thought had passed through the young boy's mind in that very second. From the thought that his brother was like him to the horrible way their parents would react to the news. However, out of all the scenarios that Sasuke had created inside his mind, their real reaction wasn't one of them. His parents that were lawyers and stuck to the books, be it law books to the book that the traditions of the Uchiha family passed down from generation to generation, had openly and without a blink of their eyes accepted the relationship between Itachi and Kyuubi. It was then that Sasuke started to realize more people were opened to accepting others no matter their differences than there were of those who discriminate against those who were different.

The very next day, Sasuke was dragged to the Uzumaki household again for the first time in months. Nothing had changed inside the house, but it felt different to be inside the house once again. Especially after the fact that the night before he had come to terms with the fact he was gay and had a crush on his brother's boyfriend's brother. Now the only problem was he didn't know how Naruto felt about homosexual relationships. For that matter, neither did his own brother, because now it was Kyuubi's turn to tell his family about his and Itachi's relationship and since the high school didn't let out until after the junior high, they all had to wait awhile.

The wait was one of the hardest times in Sasuke's life; his heart was jumping around constantly. He would be finding out if he even had a chance with the blond Uzumaki or not. So when Naruto finally came home and Kyuubi told his brother about him being gay, the three patiently awaiting listeners for his reaction were hanging when all he did was roll his eyes. He then told them he already knew they were going to get together sooner or later; it was obvious from the way Kyuubi always came home and complained to him about the mean weasel that there was something more going on there. It was only a matter of time before they realized it for themselves.

He was just happy that there wasn't going to be anymore arguing before hitting them both on the back of the head saying that was for all the headaches they had caused him. His acceptance of the two's relationship was a lot more comforting to Sasuke than it was to Kyuubi and Itachi. Not that they would ever know that.

Now, two and a half years later, Sasuke had finally come to face the fact that he was not going to get over his crush on Naruto, not that he wanted too. It was just a large age difference that set them apart and it didn't seem right to act out on his feeling towards the blond until he was a little bit older and it wouldn't be frowned upon. However, it was starting to become more difficult not to say anything when his own hormones were in full swing and he was no longer having nightmares. No, he hadn't had any nightmares since he confessed to himself that he was crushing on Naruto. Instead, he was having wet dreams about the blond. If things could get any worse, they did when he now had to see Naruto on a regular base and he was stuck in the same room with someone liked but couldn't bring himself to say a damn thing.

When they had all reached high school, it became a routine for the four to walk to the Uzumaki household together after school before going off to the park together. Although, Naruto rarely would go with them, since it was his final year of high school and he had a lot of work to get done. On the occasions that he did, Sasuke had a hard time keeping the wet dreams from flashing in his mind every time he would look at the oldest Uzumaki. It was becoming harder and harder to concentrate, especially when he started to day dream about his wet dreams. Thankfully, Naruto had been coming to the park less and less with them recently and Sasuke was saved from the humiliation of having to jack off in the bathroom when he got home.

Life was going good for Sasuke. He hadn't had any of his nightmares. He was a year ahead in school. No annoying fan club, he couldn't say the same for his brother. He was happy. He was healthy. He was emotional and physically attracted to Naruto. What more could he want than to actual have a relationship with Naruto?

* * *

What do you think of the line: "I liked it better when you two were at each other's throats, not in them"?

_**Shi no Tenshi 902**_


	6. Reality, the True Nightmare

The walls were dripping, the floors were flooded, and he was running. There were no bodies, no corpses, nobody was alive; save for two people. Himself and the murderer. His assailant's appearance was forever burned into his memory. He couldn't believe what he saw; he couldn't believe who he saw. The wicked grin those lips made wasn't right, eyes shining with insanity were flawed, and the blade should have never been in those hands. Not when it was covered in blood and, if this were to continue, it would be covered in his blood too.

* * *

Sasuke bolted awake. His breathing was ragged and hard; his pulse erratic and rapid. It was _the_ nightmare. The one he hadn't had for _years_. The images were still fresh in his mind and replaying over and over and over again. Parts were missing just like all dreams, but he knew for a fact there was something he needed to remember from the dream. Some detail that was too important, but he just could not grasp the fleeting thought. For that reason alone he couldn't calm down.

He couldn't understand it. Why was he having _the_ nightmare after so long? He thought they had stopped. He was sure they had stopped for a reason. But why had they restarted again? He read enough about psychology to know that their needed to be some type of trigger his reoccurring nightmare. As of yet, he had never been able to find any connection to the trigger for his nightmares.

Sighing, Sasuke tried to clear his head. Thinking about it at the moment was not going to help. Looking at the table, the young Uchiha groaned in dismay when he saw the red glow of the numbers only reading 1:05. He flopped back down on his bed and turned over onto his side. He needed his sleep tonight, there was a big test in his algebra class that he needed to be ready for. However, try as he might, Sasuke could not get back to sleep right away. The rest of the night seemed to be a buzz of small noises that normal would go unnoticed, but on a night like this, they just keep the raven awake. No matter which way he tossed and turned, there was never a comfortable spot that allowed the lure of bliss to claim his mind.

The clock never helped either, every time Sasuke turned to face the offending piece of technology, it seemed to mock him with its little red numbers. 2:47. 3:33. 4:13. And still no sleep came. Finally, after what seemed like eternity awake, the teen fell into a light slumber with no more evil red numbers to mock him or any mundane noises to keep him up.

"…with a low of seventy-four. A thirteen present chance of rain-" Sasuke's hand slammed down on his alarm clock and was almost tempted to throw the damn thing out the window for waking him up. He had just fallen asleep and the blasted evil machine had to deprive him of that.

It was no use taking out his frustrations on the clock. Just a waste of time and Sasuke still needed to get ready for school. Rolling out of bed, literally, the raven grabbed the clothes he had setting on the dresser from the night before—clothing he was too lazy to put away—and headed for the bathroom. His shower that morning was a quick one. It was not by choice either. Sasuke had always liked relaxing while bathing; however, he never liked cold water and the water was icy. To make matters even worse, the clothing he had grabbed had holes in pants, his favorite pair too, and he was forced to change. The raven ended up wearing the black jeans he had worn the day before, not wanting to search for anything else since he was already running behind, and a plain white shirt.

Itachi just had to comment on his dark aura when he reached the dining room, which wasn't his fault. He was having a rotten morning and nothing seemed to be looking up for him. Not when he realized he had forgotten his obento box at home when him and his brother were already half way to school. There was no time to turn around and retrieve his lunch. What was even worse was the fact that he had to deal with Itachi's fan club swarming his brother—as well as himself since he was right next to the school president—and there was no way out. Usually, by this time, Kyuubi's loud and brash behavior would have all the girls dispersing since he didn't like sharing his Weasel with anyone else. But, there was no such luck today. It seemed that the redhead Uzumaki was absent and Naruto was too nice to yell at the annoying girls.

It just so happened that Naruto was absent as well that day too, which Sasuke didn't learn until later when the school bell rang, singling the time where everyone rushed to class. The blond Uzumaki had the class next door to his first class of the day and Sasuke would always get a glimpse of the blond at least when he was entering his classroom. Naruto always stuck out like a single cloud on a clear day. But the day was clear and there was no cloud in sight and when Sasuke realized there was no blond that day, his stomach seemed to drop. Another thing to add to his already shitty day.

Lunchtime was just as bad, if not worse. Sasuke stomach refused to handle anything. The mere smell of the food made his stomach queasy and the need to vomit washed over him. Needless to say, he passed on eating and spent most of the lunch hour outside sitting in a tree. He had hope the slight change in altitude would help him feel somewhat better, but it had only made him feel worse to the point he was tardy to his next class. The teacher had given him an earful, even though it was the first time he was every late for anything school related activity, and then had proceeded to go into another lecture which put Sasuke to sleep, literally.

He hadn't slept well, not with the nightmare and all, and his horrible day tired him out. It was no wonder Mr. Carson's dull voice put him to sleep. However, Sasuke wished it hadn't.

* * *

Drip…Drip…Drip, drop, drip…

The otherwise still pool of blood was disturbed by the constant falling of the same red liquid as it rolled off of an unnatural pale hand. The owner of the life-force long since dead, but the blood tears keep rolling down her marble like feature, flowing from her cheeks to drop on her arm before trailing down to her hand where the blood fell to the growing puddle. In all rights, the blood stained redhead woman should have been dead. She was dead as far as Sasuke could tell. But as the hand covered in blood lifted up and pointed behind him, scared Sasuke.

_"He~lp th~em."_ The haunting voice demanded. Even though the woman's lips didn't move, the Uchiha knew it was the woman who spoke and he couldn't stop his body from turning around to where the finger pointed. What he saw was horrific.

There was a forest, or what use to be a forest, set ablaze under a demonic red moon with pummeled mountains in the backdrop. A gigantic demonic looking fox stood in the middle of it all, its nine tails thrashing and destroying what looked like it use to be a Edo style village around the beast's feet. The only thing that wasn't burning was the tallest tree in the forest and on top of that tree there was a silhouette of a person holding what looked to be like a baby. The person's hands were making weird shapes as best as could while holding an infant before a great flash of light dominated the otherwise black night sky blazing red. Then, there was silence, the demonic fox was gone. There was no more burning trees or smashed up village. There was nothing, everything was gone.

_"He~lp th~em!"_ The feminine, but still eerie, voice came back. More urgent then before. _"He~lp th~em be~fore it~s to~o la~te!"_

Turning around in hopes of figuring out who the dead woman wanted him to save, Sasuke only saw a flash of gold and dreadful, insane eyes before a splitting pain shot through his body. Looking down, the raven saw the kunai sink into his body before it was roughly turned in his body by the owner of the insane _blue_ eyes. His blood flowed freely down out onto his white garment as his body toppled on to of a pile of dead corpses that appeared suddenly. The last thing he remembered was looking into the hollow eyes of the body underneath him. Dead. Just like he was soon to be.

* * *

Shooting upwards, Sasuke abruptly awoke from his nightmare with a mangled scream mixed in with a chock, effectively scaring the whole class at his behavior. He didn't care. Neither did he care when Mr. Carson shrieked at him to get back as he darted out of the classroom. The raven just ran, not wanting to believe what he saw in his dream. Not wanting reality to mirror his nightmare. He just kept on running.

Sasuke didn't give the various students in the hallway any mind as he ran by them. He didn't heed any teachers that tried to stop him. He didn't hear his name being shouted, calling for him, telling him to stop as he ran off the school's campus. He didn't notice the echoing of feet hitting the ground as someone gave pursuit. He couldn't! Not now. His mind was too much in torment, he couldn't focus. He didn't want to focus. All Sasuke knew was he had to run. He had to make it.

Turning yet another corner, Sasuke stopped abruptly as he started. His ragged breathing burned his chest as he tried to force the much needed oxygen into his body. His feet ached from the spur of the moment run while his hands trembled. It took him a minute to get the pounding of the adrenaline out of his ears before he could hear properly; though, he later realized that the pounding noise wasn't from the adrenaline at all but from the impact on the ground of the footsteps coming from the person who had been chasing him.

A hand grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back, but not once did Sasuke's eyes leave the door in front of him.

"Sasuke! What do you think you're doing?" Itachi demanded, once he caught up with his brother. He had seen the young teen bolt out of his classroom, he himself just coming back from the bathroom, ignoring everyone and everything around him. Itachi would have let it be, if not for the fearful look he caught in his brother's eyes as he passed by and without thinking, he had chased his younger sibling down in order to find out what was wrong with the boy. Find out just what had spooked his brother so badly that he literally ran out. However, his brother was being unresponsive. He just stared intently in front of him, which caused him to frown worry.

Following Sasuke's gaze, Itachi realized for the first time where the younger Uchiha had lead them. The Uzumaki household. He was about to yell at his brother when for the first time he noticed that the door was slightly ajar. Kyuubi _never _left the door open. Not once. The redhead had this habit of closing and locking the front door every time they had come over. It was a tick he had that Itachi was never able to fully understand, but no matter what, if Kyuubi was home, the door _should_ have be shut and locked tightly.

It was Itachi's turn to act on impulse and without thinking; the older of the two siblings pushed the door open and slowly made his way into the house, Sasuke right behind him. The first thing that the Uchiha brothers notice was that the whole house was pitch black. Very little, if any, light was getting in through the heavy brown curtains which were normally open, but not today. The second thing that they notice as their eyes tried to adjust to the dark lighting was that a wretched smell filled the room covering the usual scent of the house. Well, the smell covered most of the usual scent, save one. The lingering odor that usual had Sasuke feeling anxiety wasn't lingering, but over powering mixed in with a newer scent.

However, it was when their eyes finally could penetrate through the darkness that Sasuke and Itachi were truly put in an unease situation. And that was an understatement. The wall to the right of the door that was void of anything save the plasma television had some kind of target painted in a dark color. Still wet by the way it was creeping down the wall at a painfully slow pace. There were different knives, the knives usually in protective casing on the shelves, stuck into the wall around the target, but never quite near the middle, as if they had been thrown. And the middle of the circle, the middle of the circle held Kyuubi gagged and pinned to the wall. His hands tied together above his head and keep there by a knife stabbed through the wall and the rope binding his hands together.

In an instant, Itachi was by the redhead's side and fumbled with untying the bindings keeping his hands together. It was difficult with his shaky hands, but he finally got the knot undone and the moment he was free, Kyuubi fell limply against Itachi. His eyes were wide open, unseeing, and a blank look on his face. To put it simple, the Uzumaki was in shock. Itachi tried to get his attention, tried asking him what was wrong, hoping he would reply now that he had removed the gag obstructing the redhead's ability to speak. There was no reaction. Kyuubi just stared before him blankly, his breathing shallow and his heartbeat erratic.

A trickle of blood rolling down the left side of his face and Itachi wiped it away. He was going to examine where the blood had originated from when he realized for the first time what the target was painted in. Blood. Bright red, a human's very lifeline, _blood_, it was the new putrid scent in the room. The awful smell overwhelmed Itachi for a moment. His mind becoming blank when he realized that the amount of blood on the wall was not a good indication of its owner's wellbeing.

"Itachi," Sasuke's quiet voice whispered out. Terror filled his voice and there was something else too, something Itachi couldn't identify. He had been so focused on Kyuubi when he saw his boyfriend bond and the object of someone's target practice that he had momentarily forgot about his brother's presence. He hadn't even notice that the younger teen hadn't even moved. Sasuke must have been petrified at the sight. But his assumptions were wrong, that wasn't the case. When Itachi turned back towards his brother, he saw for the first time what honestly held Sasuke's fear.

They were not alone. Seated in the armchair directly in front of the television was a person. The features were hard to make out at first, since the area the chair was situated was shrouded in complete darkness. The figure loosely held a bottle of bourbon in one hand—the smell that always lingered in the Uzumaki household—and _the _bloody kunai blade in the other hand. Jeans and a dingy white shirt were covered in blood and lightly tanned skin peppered with the red liquid. There was even some speckled within blond hair, drying in matted clumps. The man seemed to be asleep, else his eyes would have been opened and the bottle wouldn't be dangerously close to falling to the ground.

Itachi almost mistook the man for Naruto. Almost. If not for the fact that at the unknown blond's feet, Naruto laid crumpled up, unmoving, in a pool of dried and new blood. His skin unnaturally pale and there was no movement coming from the older Uzumaki sibling. His face was hidden from view, facing towards the unknown man's feet, but Itachi had a feeling there wouldn't been anything movement there either. Form all looks of it, Naruto was dead.

Seeing the bloodied blade combined with the unnatural, malicious, aura that surrounded the older blond that screamed murderer, Itachi felt the innate human need to fight or flight, which his instincts screamed for him to run. To get away and save himself. His instincts told him to gather Kyuubi and Sasuke and get the hell out of there. Call the cops and have them deal with it. However, he was never given the chance.

Unlike his brother, Sasuke didn't have any thoughts of fleeing; neither did he have any intention to fight. No, his instincts told him to save and he was listening to them. Slowly, he had began to creep over to the unmoving body of Naruto as his brother fought with his fight or flight impulse. He was already halfway across the room when Itachi came to his senses and he saw exactly what the youngest Uchiha was attempting.

"Sasuke!" Itachi snapped out well trying to keep quiet. He didn't want to wake the man holding the bloody kunai. "What are you doing?"

Sasuke didn't answer his brother, only a step away from Naruto. One that he took without jarring awake the mysterious, deadly, blond. He wanted to make sure that the limp body of the blond—the blond he knew—was still alive. Reaching out a hand to touch Naruto, he was only inches away from.

"W'o 're ou?" a slurred, enraged voice murmured out sleepily.

The voice sounded psychotic in Sasuke's ears, making him freeze in place. The next thing the young Uchiha knew was that he was being kicked in the gut. The force of the blow sent him tumbling backward and with his pale complexion a bruise was surely to form. However, Sasuke couldn't concern himself with that at the moment. The psychotic blond glaring at him, and for the first time, the insane _blue_ eyes were revealed to the raven. He couldn't keep the hitch from his breath. His nightmare flashing before his eyes once again, this time, he remembered what the nightmare murderer looked like. In every _excoriating_ detail. "H't re ou rats d'ing in vy howese?" the man slurred out, intoxicated.

The man before him was his nightmare murderer, the one that constantly killed everyone close to him, everyone he ever meet, everyone period. But that was only _fictional_ and this was **real**. The mysterious murderer was **_real_**. Currently kicking Naruto's body out of the way as he stumbled to get to his feet and advancing forward, taking a swig out of the bottle in his hand every once in awhile, towards the dazed Uchiha. A daze which Sasuke snapped out of when the man raised the bloody blade above his head in attempt to stab the young teen.

Scrabbling out of the way, the raven dodged the sluggish attempt to stab him by rolling out of the way. Once his feet were underneath him and he was behind the obvious drunkard, the Uchiha dashed to his feet. The man turned around, trying to catch the boy that escaped him. He ended up stumbling over his own two feet, almost falling to the ground, but caught himself last second. In the mean time, Sasuke tried to make it to his brother and the shocked Kyuubi. Sasuke tried to be put as much stuff in between them and the murderer, up turning the furniture to slow him down any.

"Ou'r ater thee dea-mon," the intoxicated voice roared as he stumbled towards the group. He tripped on the brown rugs and some invisible things while pushing the heavy stuff out of the way as he stalked towards him. "Ou'r livke h'm. Ou'r ryin to sve thee bijuu livke 'at jin-chew-reki! I von't al-low it. I vill ou all!"

It was only a matter of time before the insane blond got to them and in a last ditch effort, the raven threw Naruto's blanket, which had been lying on the couch, over insane blond. The man's steps flatter and he twisted and turned in his drunken haze, not being able to get the orange piece of material off of him.

"Aniki, go, go, go!" Sasuke shouted. Nodding his head, Itachi struggled to his feet, fumbling as he tried to pick up the limp redhead. One of the Uzumaki's arms was thrown around his shoulder, Itachi keeping the appendage with one of his hands, while his other hand was wrapped around Kyuubi's waist to support the redhead's weight. However, the Uchiha keep stumbling with the extra burden. Kyuubi refuse to move for himself, forcing Itachi to dragging the redhead's feet across the floor. Carry him and trying to escape was nearly impossible.

Itachi nearly toppled to the floor when Kyuubi's foot caught on the edge of an end table Sasuke had turned over. He would have hit the ground rather painfully; yet, two helping hands rushed in and steady them. Looking up, Itachi saw his little brother slinging redhead's other arm over his shoulder and the three of them made steady made their way to the door.

The sound of a bottle smashing echoed in the Uchiha brothers' ears, but they weren't stupid enough to turn and look. They knew they had to get out of there. If they had turned, they would have seen the way the maniac tore through faded orange blanket with the kunai and ripping the offending piece of cloth off his being. They would have seen how his steps became steadier his rage seemingly eating away his intoxication as well as the sleep from his body, which only allowed him to move quicker towards the escaping trio. They would have been prepared for the blond as he grabbed the closest boy—Itachi—by the shoulder and spun him around, only to slash at him wildly. Only two of his wild movements actual connected with Itachi resulting in two thin but deep slanted cuts were etched underneath the pale teenage boy's eyes on either side of his face.

Itachi would have had other, more serious wounds, judging by the way the murderous blond raised the blade high above his head, if not for the younger replica of the man, albeit the fact he was covered in his own blood, tackling him from the side. An indigent scream came from the murderer and a grunt of pain from the smaller blond; however, he did not let go. Naruto wrestled with the drunken man, using the older man's weight against him and his own weight was thrown against the arm holding the kunai in hopes to dislodge the dangerous weapon.

"Dea-mon lowver, jin-chew-reiki," the drunken slurred obscenity shrieked out as the man continued to thrash about, trying to gain an advantage. "Di-ie!"

Another grunt of pain escaped Naruto as he was harshly jabbed in an area the Uchiha brothers could not see. However, by the way the teen winced and immense pain washed over his face, they knew he had been injured or at least hit where it had reopened an already existing wound. The new blood dripping on the floor spoke louder than any words could. Naruto didn't seem to care; instead, he continued to struggle, trying to get the kunai away from the murderer. He looked up for a moment, his eyes catching with Sasuke's for a split second, the aquatic blue was the same color as the blue of the crazy blond's eyes, yet they were different. They held no insanity; they only held alarm and fear, not for himself, but for them.

"What are you still doing here?" Naruto snapped out desperately. "Get out of here! _Go!_"

"Noo-oo!" the murderer hollered, his hostility increasing and he fought more to get away. "I veed 'o vansquish ee dea-mon!"

Naruto was thrown off the man as the lunatic scrabbled towards the trio in all his drunken fury. He didn't care who he killed anymore, he had passed the point of insanity. He just needed to kill and kill he did. It all happened within a second. The murderer slammed his blade down into soft flesh, right near the heart, before being harshly jerked out at an odd angle. With a weak cry of pain, Naruto fells to the ground, becoming limp once again. Nonetheless, his objective served; he had used his own body as a barrier, a shield, and protected them. It didn't matter if he was going to die, he knew the wound was too close to his heart, but he didn't care. Not as the door was smashed open and the police came busting in shouting out commands with their weapons drawn.

It was all over. They were safe, that was all that matter; and with that last thought, Naruto drifted away.

* * *

Did the chapter seem epically depressing to you, or is it just me?

**_Shi no Tenshi 902_**


	7. Actuality

The walls were white, too white, almost as if they had been covered in bleach numerous times a day just to stay so clean. He'd bet that if it weren't for the massive amount of disinfectant used all over the building to sterilize every single surface, then the walls would have smelled of bleach. There was just no other way to explain the completely white walls. It was too goddamn white! There needed to be more color, more life, inside the place. Any color _but_ red, he had seen too much of that color recently and he had come to resent the color. He was starting to resent the color white just as much as red, which—at any other time—he would have found slightly amusing seeing as the Uchiha colors were red and white. But that wasn't the point.

Sasuke was there, yet he wasn't there at the same time. His mind registered every aspect of what was going on, he could hear the clipping of women in high heels as they walked pass him. He could smell the sterile scent of the hospital. He could see—and his mind registered—the people that walked in front of him even though he was more interested in the white wall. The doctor coats just made him feel more unease then he already was. His head was killing him, a migraine forming which the click-clacking coming from the rather annoying heels was not helping. The noises just seemed to be getting louder and louder, driving him crazy.

"Sasuke!" the frantic voice of his mother penetrating the stiff air around him, finally bring him out of his depressing musings. His head bolted up and snapped in the direction of his mother's voice. Mikoto was at the end of the hall, her usual professional appearance gone, replaced with a disheveled state. She was out of breath and her fears shown through her face with no hesitation. Right besides her was Fugaku, his appearance just as bad, if not worse than his wife's.

Needing someone to comfort him, needing his family more than anything, Sasuke stood up and darted over to his mother's side. He didn't care that the police officer sitting at his side had told him not to move. He just didn't care anymore.

"Sasuke, Sasuke, oh my baby, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere? What happened?" the dark haired woman fretted over her son, her Japanese rushing out with her worry. She grabbed hold of her son and started hugging him, keeping him close to her body to make sure he was real alive. Once she knew he was alright, she pulled him away and started checking him for any injuries. There was only a few cuts and scrapes on his legs and arms, and a few rather large bruises covering various potions of his body, but nothing too bad. His mother's eyes then began to dart around the area, searching. "Where's your brother? Kami-sama, what happened to him? Where is he?"

"Mikoto-san, calm down, Itachi is fine," the police officer, who had been guarding Sasuke, attempted to pacify—in Japanese, though, his was a lightly rusty and the sentence wasn't as fluid as he would have like—the protective mother. A glare was immediately turned towards the cop and his dark brown, almost black, eyes widening as he wished he hadn't spoken at all. Putting up his hands in a gesture of surrender, the man swore if his hair wasn't already white, it would have turned white from fear.

"Where is my son Hatake Kakashi?" Mikoto growled out, clutching Sasuke closer to her body as if fearing the worse.

A black haired cop in the same dark blue uniform as Kakashi just turned the corner. The same black hair as all Uchihas had as well as the same black eyes and pale skin complexion. After all, he was an Uchiha too, Uchiha Obito. "He's right here Mikoto-bachan," the man who was her nephew by marriage replied in fluent Japanese, presenting her oldest son to her. The young teenager had two bandages on either side of his nose and a couple of bruises, which seemed to be his only injuries.

As Mikoto cuddled her two sons, Fugaku turned his attention to the two police officers, one who happened to be his deceased brother's son and the other, his godson. "Obito, Kakashi, what happened?" the lawyer asked, an edge to his voice that was only present when his family was in danger.

"What did they tell you on the phone?" Kakashi asked, fidgeting under his godfather's gaze. He really didn't want to be the one to tell the man that had practically raised him that his sons were almost killed. He didn't want to piss the man off, considering all he had learned in the last three hours. This wasn't going to be pretty.

Frowning, Fugaku eyeing the Hatake warily. "All we heard on the phone was that our sons had walked in on a crime in progress and were now in the hospital."

"More like murder in progress," Obito corrected without thinking of who he was talking to and who exactly was still in hearing range.

"Murder?" Mikoto screeched, tightening her hold on her two boys. The fear in her body which had died down increased within by tenfold. "What do you mean murder?"

Gulping at his slipup, the burnet police officer yearned to be anywhere else than here. He heard hell was a great place this time of year and old Lucifer had nothing on Mikoto when she was in protective-mother-mood. Taking a deep breath, Obito looked his aunt and uncle in the eyes and they knew immediately that this was a very serious situation. His eyes held none of his usual happy-go-lucky self or his childish demeanor. This was an agent of the law, Officer Uchiha, he wasn't playing the part of their nephew but doing his job. Officer Hatake had done the same, his eyes were narrowed and he no longer held himself in a relaxed fashion. His posture was straight and his eyes were unreadable.

"At twelve twenty today, a call came into the station from the Dresden household," Officer Uchiha stated, his tone even and devoid of all emotions. "A noise complaint, Mr. Dresden said that there were odd noises coming from the neighboring house. The man described the sound as the growls of a feral animal trapped within the house that was going on a rampage. Since it was only a noise complaint, dispatch didn't send out the message for a good twenty minute, since there were other calls that took priority. We didn't actual receive the message until thirty minutes later and it took us a good fifteen minutes to arrive at the scene.

"The moment we arrived, we knew this was not a noise complaint, at best it was a domestic disturbance from the crashing and the random muffled shouts coming from inside the house. At worst, it was a domestic violence, we never imagined it would be a homicide in progress, but the scream that followed had us running to the door with our weapons drawn."

At this point, Officer Hatake thought it best for him to take over the explanation. "The scene that greeted us in the household was that of three teenage boys grouped near a corner—one in an apparent state of shock, one bleeding from two deep wound on the face…," this was said as a quick glance was thrown in Itachi's direction and Mikoto couldn't help but hold tighter onto her oldest son "…and the last shaken and visibly unharmed—a drunk man with a blade advancing towards them. It took three bullets from myself and an additional five from Officer Uchiha to take the man down and for me to secure him.

"While I was cuffing the perp, Officer Uchiha took notice of the fourth teenager for the first time, who laid bleeding out on the floor from a deep stab wound too close to the heart, we later learned that he was injured protecting the other three boys, trying to give them time to escape. An ambulance was called immediately as Officer Uchiha kept pressure on the wound until the paramedics arrived," at this point Officer Hatake stopped talking and Kakashi emerged shared a glance with Obito. A glance which did not go unnoticed by the Uchiha couple.

Untangling herself from her boys, Mikoto walked over to Obito and look him straight in the eyes. His black eyes were well guarded but her nephew was a people person, very opened, and it was impossible to hide all of what he was feeling from her eyes. She could see the sadness and grief swimming just beneath the surface of the murky black depths. She also noticed another emotion, but she couldn't quite place it, not yet. Next, the brunette woman walked towards Kakashi and looked him straight in the eyes. There too was the exact same three emotions in his dark brown eyes as Obito's, but the third emotion was much stronger this time and Mikoto could identify the emotion for what it was, self-hatred.

"Kakashi, Obito, why did you not mention any names? What are you trying to hide?" the woman asked in a motherly manner, for the first time talking in English.

"Okaa-san, we were at Kyuubi's house," Itachi spoke up, yet his mother's eyes never left the two older men before her. "Kyuubi was the one who was in shock after that psychotic drunkard used him for target practice."

"And the other boy, the one that saved our sons?" Fugaku inquired his voice stiff and rigid.

"His heart stopped beating twice in the ambulance and he was clinically dead for a little over two minutes before being revived with the paddles," the grey haired man supplied, none taking notice of the way Sasuke flinched at hearing the news. "The doctors used their medical jargon to explain his condition to us, but they're not sure if he'll survive, the wound was a quarter of an inch away from his heart; however, it did puncture the left lung. The doctors say it's too early to tell if he will make it or not."

"There's more," it wasn't question, it was a statement made by the Head of the Uchiha clan. "Go on."

Sharing a look once again, Kakashi and Obito tried to find the right words to portray the severity of the situation. "Uncle, do you know Kyuubi's last name?" Obito asked hesitantly.

"Uzumaki, Itachi fully introduced us when he presented him as his boyfriend," Mikoto answered for her husband. The shaking of the two polices' head had hear confused though. "Isn't it?"

"That might be the name he calls himself by, but that's not his true name, not according to his birth certificate," Kakashi answered, gathering up his courage for what he was going to divulge next. "According to his birth certificate, his name is Kyuubi Kinto Namikaze, his older brother—the boy that saved your son—is Naruto Jin Namikaze and it was their father that was arrested on the counts of attempted homicide." At this point, the Hatake took a breath, working up the courage to say what he had venomously been denying since he stepped through the doorway and into a murder scene. "Minato Daime Namikaze, the former Head Detective of the Homicide Division." 

The reason for the two police officers' self-hatred exposed. No more information needed to be said, they had all heard the stories of Kakashi and Obito's first years out in the field. How the head detective took the two under his wings and taught them everything they needed to know and then some before he left the department for family reasons. However, the blond detective that the raven haired cop told fantastic stories about and the insane blond he had meet first hand, Itachi wasn't sure that they were talking about the same man. A man that risked his very life in a hostage situation to save a child from being killed by her mother could not be the same man who tried to do the very same thing and kill his own child. The logic behind that was scanty and illogical at best.

He really didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to do anything at the moment really, the only thing he wanted to do was make sure Kyuubi was okay and hold him in his arms where he knew the redhead would be safe. However, the doctors would allow him in to see Kyuubi, not in his state. Or, at least that was the excuse they had told him to keep the Uchiha away from his boyfriend. He didn't want to think about Naruto who was rushed into the ER before he had even gotten out of a second ambulance he and Sasuke were forced to take to the hospital.

But what was really eating Itachi alive was the fact that it was his entire fault. If only he had been a light stronger, he could have carried Kyuubi out of the house with ease. If he was faster, the psychopath—Minato his mind filled in the name from the earlier conversation—wouldn't have caught him. If he had used his kendo training—it wasn't like there wasn't a knife collection sitting on display in the living room—instead of freezing up he would have been able to disarm the kunai away from a drunken man. If only he was any of those then Naruto wouldn't have needed to protect him, used his body as a barrier against his own father. If only this was not…

"…my fault," Sasuke whispered guiltily. "This is all my fault!" He accepted the blame for himself before spinning on his heels and bolting down the too white hallway. Not giving anyone the time to contradict his accusations or stop the raven as he ran away. He never heard the yells of his name as they chased after him; but when Uchiha Sasuke wanted to escape and disappear, it was impossible to stop him. For the moment he turned the corner, he was lost from sight and none could find him again in the hospital.

* * *

The sun was setting, the area around him growing dimmer, but more breath taking by the second. As the bright lighting and intensified colors faded, they gave way for the beautiful oranges and dark reds of fall and blues and violets of nightfall all mixed in together to create dusk. The soft looking usually white cotton candy like clouds were thin in appearance rolling towards the setting sun and trying to capture the vibrant colors they typically lacked with the light's help. The trees perfectly framed the sunset, accentuating the elegance of the scene. It was scenes like this which painters and many artists only dreamed of recreating but never could being able to capture the full magical picture Mother Nature created.

Yet, Sasuke did not turn from his perch to marvel at dusk's appearance. He could not bring himself away from his current task of looking out before him. Even blinking seemed to be too much of a hassle at the time. Over and over again, he would replayed the day in his head, thinking of ways to change the outcome, things he could have done different so no one was ever hurt. Different scenarios ran through his head, but all of them ended with Naruto laying on the floor, dying. All it really came down to was the nightmares.

A hand gently placed itself down on his head as if to try not to startle him; yet, since he didn't know that there was anyone else in the area, startle him it did. Looking up, black eyes meet black eyes. Neither could turn away.

"Otouto, Okaa-san and Otou-san are worried sick about you," Itachi stated, his voice holding his own concerns at bay. "They sent out Obito and Kakashi after you when you ran but they haven't been able to find you."

"You found me, didn't you?"

Breaking eye contact for the first time, he nodded his head affirmatively. "Hai, but I knew where to look."

"So why didn't you show up sooner?"

"Because I knew you needed time alone." The answer was simple and true, Sasuke knew that, but, for some reason it put him on edge. It was like he didn't want to hear the answer. He didn't want to face reality of the situation at hand, but his brother was forcing him too with each word. Damnit, Itachi wasn't even doing anything! He was just standing there, answering Sasuke's questions truthfully.

A growl came out of the young teen's mouth and he couldn't help the words that rushed out of his mouth. "If I would have never had these stupid _nightmares_, then-"

"Naruto would be dead and Kyuubi would be the same way," Itachi insisted, cutting his little brother off. He knew where this was going. He knew why Sasuke was blaming himself for everything and he had to put a stop to it. "Sasuke, the nightmares didn't cause this to happen, they were coincidences. If anything at all they were visions. If it wasn't for that particular nightmare, do you think you would have ever run out of class in the middle of the day? Do you think that I would have ever followed you? Do you think we would have ever gotten to Kyuubi's and Naruto's house in time to save them?

"Think about it! If it weren't for those visions, Naruto wouldn't be hanging on to life right now, he would be _dead_. Kyuubi wouldn't be sleeping in a hospital bed tonight, he would be bound and gagged, pinned to the wall still like a target waiting to be hit. I'd admit that you won't have had to be put through mental trauma because of the nightmares and we would have never gotten hurt today, but looking at the alternative. I like this way better. Don't you agree?"

By this time, the sun had already completely set by this time and the two brothers were left in the dark. The crystal wall surrounding them reflecting the artificial lights pointed at the memorial wall illumining the area.

Slowly, Sasuke nodded. "Hai."

A small smile formed on Itachi's lips as he held out his hand and pulled his brother up off the ground when Sasuke took it. "I'm glad you agree. Come on, let's go home. Okaa-san promised we could go visit Kyuubi and Naruto in the hospital tomorrow."

* * *

A week had gone by since the "Namikaze's Kamikaze" as the newspapers had dubbed the whole incident. The press had a field day with the news of the former Head of the Homicide Department had a mental break down and—quote—"tried to exercise the demons from his sons"—end quote—an euphuism for saying the man had gone insane and tried to kill his own sons. Sasuke and Itachi had both been excused from school for the remainder of the week since the press had been pressing them for a statement and Fugaku thought it best to keep his sons at home after such an ordeal. The brothers were thankful for not having to attend school, not when they knew they were going to be hounded by the students and other faculty members about what had occurred that night.

The whole situation was a huge deal since Minato Namikaze was a local hero. His past heroic deeds were brought up and reevaluated by the press. His life history from the time he was a baby to when he departed from the police force was soon on every news station. What irked the whole Uchiha family was the fact that they spent more time going over his past—contently leaving out any mention of his family—than they spent on the issue at hand. There was hardly any coverage on Naruto or Kyuubi. The press had even tried to get an interview with Sasuke and Itachi about the "Namikaze's Kamikaze". They wanted information on what he had done, only showing concern for the "Victim Uchiha Brothers" and that had only enraged all the Uchihas. So much so that Fugaku threaten to sue anyone that came near his house for harassment.

Every day of the week, either Fugaku or Mikoto would take their sons to the hospital where they would spend at least an hour with Kyuubi. The first few times they had come, he was asleep and the doctors told them that he was recovering nicely. There were no lasting injuries, rope burn around his wrist and bruises littered his body. The worst of his wounds was a concussion which was the reason for his dazed state and his inability to walk straight, his balance was totally shot. The doctor was starting to worry about the redhead when he keep vomiting up the food he ate, but that was just another symptom of having a concussion. However, the last few times the Uchiha family had visited Kyuubi he had been wide awake and seemed pretty happy, talking with everyone and complaining about his incapability to get out of the bed. Never once did he talk about what happened that night and when anyone brought it up, he would go into a stupor state, lost in his mind which would end up with him falling asleep.

Once Kyuubi was asleep, or it was time for them to be going, the family would always make one last stop at the ICU to look through the glass window into the white room filled with numerous machines where Naruto was being kept. So far, the blond teen had yet to wake up and the doctors were not sure what was to be expected of the blond's health. The surgery Naruto had underwent to repair his punctured lung was a success and he should have been in the clear. He should have woken up, but he wasn't and that's what the doctors were worried about. It was the reason why he was in the ICU to begin with. They had thoroughly examined the blond, his list of injuries extensive but nothing that should have put him in the coma state he was in.

Naruto had one cracked rib while two other ribs were bruised, his left wrist had a hairline fracture, his ankle was heavily twisted, and a large gash to his side. Those were just the new injuries. From the x-rays, the doctors could tell he had at least a half dozen broken bones that had healed. There was also bruising on his arms that were in layers, some old, some new, some fading and some just rising to the surface. It was like the blond did not want to wake up, had nothing keeping him bounded to the living world, or that was what one of the doctors had told them, but Sasuke would not believe that. Neither would Itachi. Naruto had cared enough about Kyuubi and them and used his own body to stop Minato, if he wasn't "bounded to the living world" like the doctor had implied then he wouldn't have tried to save them. Naruto wanted to live; they insisted something else was keeping him in a coma.

This day was no different for Sasuke and Itachi, or they thought it was no different. Mikoto was the one to take them to the hospital for the day; Fugaku was finishing up a few things in the office. The route to the redhead's room was memorized and the on duty nurses knew them by sight now. They asked no question, a polite wave and head about their own business and the Uchihas would head to room 842. The door opened in an inviting manor, waiting for his expected visitors. But today, today the door was slightly ajar and heated voices could be heard from inside.

"-make me! I won't go!" Kyuubi's enraged voice came jarring out of the room. But there was another emotion that caused his voice to tremble, if only by the slightest amount. Never once had Itachi heard the emotion in his boyfriend's voice before, the Uzumaki was too much of a bad-boy to ever show the _weaker_ emotions; yet, if the teenager had to describe the emotion, he would classify it as fear. Kyuubi was afraid and it was directed to whoever was in the room with him, the person he was yelling at.

An unknown voice was soon to follow the unseen redhead's yelling. "I'm sorry you feel that way Mr. Namikaze-"

"Uzumaki," the sharp snapped cut the unknown female's voice.

A second went by before the woman seemed to find her voice at the abrupt and harsh interruption. "Excuse me?" It was obvious now that the unknown woman was from the Social Service judging by the way she talked and held her composure while talking to the willful Kyuubi.

"My name is Uzumaki, Kyuubi Uzumaki. Not Namikaze, _never _Namikaze. I refuse share anything with that _bastard-_" the word was spitted out with the utmost scorn "-least of all a **family** name!" The name family was uttered softly and tenderly, sadness lacing all of the words that followed. "The only family I have is Anii and you want to take me away from him!"

"Listen, Mr. Nami-" a predatorily, almost inhuman, growl made the woman stutter "-Uuzumaki. Your brother, Naruto Namikaze-" another growl but there was no amendment to the statement this time "-displays signs that he could turn out like your father and it would be best to place you in a foster home. Away from your brother before…" the rest of the sentence trailed off, uncertain of how to continue on.

"Before what?" Kyuubi asked, his voice inexplicably calm. His collect composure more frightening than his earlier yelling. "Before he starts treating me like my so called father? The man that blames me for my mother's death? Because there were complications at childbirth and has held a grudge against me every since? The man that completely ignored my existence when he was sober? You think that my brother will turn out like him, am I correct?"

The teenage boy did not give time for the woman to answer his question, it was rhetorical anyways. "Let me fill you in on something lady, my brother, Naruto _Uzumaki_, would **never** hurt me. Every morning he wakes me up and makes sure I eat breakfast. He helps me get ready for school and pacts a lunch for me before walking with me to school whether it be rain, shine, or foggy. He is constantly on my case to do better in school and get good grades by encouraging me and making sure my homework is always done."

Throughout the entire conversation, the unknown and unseen woman had a professional tone to her; however, she seemed to lose all of her professionalism in that moment. "You expect me to believe that Naruto _Namikaze_ made sure you went to school? And passed your classes? When he himself is failing all of his own classes and is endangered of getting expelled from constantly skipping classes? I'm no fool. I've gone over both you and your brother's history, I know all there is to know to conclude that Naruto Namikaze is nothing more than a bad egg."

The mockery in the social worker's voice was apparent; she wasn't trying to be nice at all. Yet, Kyuubi stayed calm. He did not raise his voice or lash out at the insult.

"Oh, really know? You know _all_ about us?" the question was obviously taunting the arrogant woman. "So you know that Anii ditches his classes to work at a part-time job four blocks away from the high school just to make sure there was always food on the table? That the classes he did attend he fell asleep in because he was forced to works the nightshift as a stock boy to make enough money to pay the mortgage on the house and bills? I bet you thought that the _bastard_ was the one who brought home the money; well, news flash, the only thing he spends his money on is alcohol, alcohol, and more alcohol.

"Naruto will _never _turn out like Minato. He cares way too much for me." The Uchihas standing outside of the door, listening in on the conversation almost didn't catch the next part of Kyuubi's rant at it was mere whispers of words. "Did you know that Anii never let me get hurt? That every time Minato came home drunk and violent, he made sure I was either out of sight or out of the house? That he took the beatings for me when he thought I wasn't around to see? He tried to keep me unaware of all he was going through, so I wouldn't blame myself for the brutal beatings the **_bastard_** gave him or how he went to school to set a good example for me. Only to sneak out later and go work so we would have money for food and a roof over our heads. All Anii ever did, he did to protect me."

The woman from Social Service was quiet for the longest of moments from the gloomy story. The three standing outside of the ajar door were silent as well, not knowing what to do. Itachi and Sasuke couldn't believe what they had never noticed any of what Kyuubi said. The clues were all there, the countless times Naruto ushered them out of the house in a hurry for some odd reason, the reason why Naruto always wore pants and long-sleeved clothing when it was the middle of the summer, and why Naruto had been spending less time with them in general and seemed so tired. Even the worried looks that Kyuubi gave his brother should have been a hint that there was obviously something going on, but never once had either of them put it together and they were called geniuses at school. Now they felt worse than dirt, how could they not notice?

Mikoto was also touched by what Kyuubi said. He and his brother had gone through a lot. Naruto had gone through things that no man should have to face and yet he done so only to protect his younger brother. Moreover, he had did it all on his own.

"Touching story, but there is no proof."

* * *

Quick note, I have nothing against social workers, I think that what they do is really admirable; however, I was watching so show with a really mean social worker and then I started to write. This is what came out.

Also, I'm SORRY MINATO, I love your character, but I needed a bad guy. You just happened to be it.

Question for this chapter: Has anyone realized that the characters I really like are always put the ones I'm putting through hell?

**_Shi no Tenshi 902_**


	8. Morality

I am soooo sorry, this was supposed to be up a long time ago, but for the last two weeks I've had 5 tests and 6 quizzes in my classes. I haven't had any free time to myself and my brain has been on the fritz. In other words, I had this chapter planned an entirely different way than having (deletes spoilers).

* * *

Mikoto was livid. She could not believe what the Social Service woman had implied. She wasn't going to look into anything of what the boy had told her and that was her job. As a social worker she was supposed to look after the ones that were put into her jurisdiction. Meaning that she was obligated to look into the welfare of those in her custody and if one of them were to confide in her and tell her information that was crucial to a case, they were obligated to investigate it. This _woman_ however had challenged Kyuubi's claim and outright called him a lair. It was people like her that set a lot of criminals free in court from such situations because of their own ignorance and pride getting in the way.

All but bursting into the room, Mikoto went into business mode. Her eyes immediately narrowing in on the heavyset brunette woman standing across the room from her and her anger flared up at the sight of the smug pig. Kyuubi was standing as well, his violet eyes which had been set glaring at the social worker were now wide open looking her way. For a brief second, Mikoto let her mother side show through to give her oldest son's boyfriend a comforting smile when she witnesses the fear and terror flickering through his eyes at the prospect of being taken away. When her attention was fixed back on the Social Service worker though, all warmth and kindness was gone and she had to smirk when she saw the woman give an involuntary shiver.

Controlling her fear, the Social Service worker attempted a glare of her own. It didn't even come into comparison with an Uchiha glare and it didn't take but a minute to falter and fail.

"Who are you?" the hefty lady sneered. "What rights do have busting in here? This is a _private_ hospital room where a confidential conversation is going on. You have no right to be here."

"I have no right huh?" Mikoto asked a merciless smile on her face, one that the social worker never took notice of. "Not when you're harassing Kyuubi? To me it seems that it is in my civil duty to look after him, since you don't seem to be doing your job right."

A perturbed look crossed over her face, before the brunette tried to cover up her treatment of the redhead boy that the raven hair woman obviously overheard. "I'm pleased to know that there are still people out there that care enough to help people. However, you have no legal rights over him, he has become a ward of the state," the hefty woman declared smugly as ever. "Therefore, you shouldn't bother yourself with this."

"I think you're mistaken there. You see, this boy is now in my custody and if you have a problem with it, you can talk to my lawyer," Mikoto all but sneered, pulling out a card for Uchiha & Uchiha law firm and handed it to the rude lady. One look at the card and the woman knew she was over in her head, especially when she recognized Mikoto for who she really was. "I'm sure my husband can sort out any and all legal problems if any arise. Until then, I'm taking Kyuubi with me." The brunette opened her mouth, moving it as she tried to find the words to say, but no sound came out. "Is there a problem?" the Uchiha woman snapped.

"No ma'am," the Social Service worker jumped to attention.

"Good," Mikoto smirked, "then we'll be leaving now. Come on boys, we don't want to keep Naruto waiting. I'm sure he'll appreciate our visit."

"Hai," the three teens chimed in together. Itachi and Sasuke remembering why they stayed out of their mother's way when she was angry and never angered her themselves while Kyuubi had gained a new respect of the Uchiha woman. However, before Kyuubi left the room, he turned to the social work, having one last thing to say to her.

"You want proof that Anii has constantly protected me, look at his arms and legs, they should still be covered in the marks he received from the bastard's last beating."

* * *

After hearing the story of what the _Uzumaki_ brothers—their names being officially changed from Namikaze to their deceased mother's, Uzumaki Kushina, maiden name—had been through, Fugaku took only two days for the Uchihas to have the brothers under their legal rights. Kyuubi had been moved into the Uchiha house, into one of the of the spare rooms right next to Itachi's room. When asked if he had wanted anything from his old home, he only requested a small handful of his belongs, a blanket with baby foxes among the listed items. The redhead had refused to return to the house and it had been Obito and Kakashi who had gone to the Namikaze household and collected the requested items. It was the least they could do for the boy.

Sadly, Naruto was still in ICU and he showed no signs of improvement. Kyuubi had insisted to go visit his brother the moment Mikoto had announced her custody of him since the hospital wouldn't allow him to see Naruto while he was still under their supervision and without a legal guardian. One doctor's assistance had even tried to force the redhead out of ICU, but Mikoto had put a stop to that. The boy needed to see his brother, no matter how bad of condition he was in. Kyuubi didn't care what Naruto looked like, he just pleaded with the blond to wake up. He still needed him and Naruto couldn't leave him just because Minato was finally gone.

The group had stayed the rest of the day in the hospital and only left because visiting hours were over. The days that followed, Kyuubi would go and visit his brother every chance he would get and Itachi would tag along for support along with Sasuke. Still, there were no changes to Naruto's condition and after another week, he was taken out of ICU and placed into a regular hospital room. One of the doctors from the intensive care unit had taken an interest in the Uzumaki's case and personally looked over the blond, but he was having no luck at finding and signs of a break through. Naruto was no closer to waking up as he had been since he fell into a coma.

Both Mikoto and Fugaku thought it was best that they sent their sons and Kyuubi back to school, to take their mind off of Naruto. Seeing the blond unresponsive in bed after all that had happen was not good for their mental health. The blond had saved them after all and any of them could blame themselves for his current condition. The best way to stop that from happening was get their mind off of the incident, which meant getting their minds off of Naruto, and focused on something else. In this case, school.

However, that did not mean that the Uchiha couple was giving up on Naruto. Never would they give up on the boy who had saved their sons' lives, even less after hearing what Naruto had gone through to save care for his brother. No, the moment that Mikoto had gotten the paperwork making her the blond teen's legal guardian, she called the family doctor to arrange for her to look Naruto over. The ICU doctor was kind enough to take care of the blond personally, but the Uchihas' family doctor was the best doctor money could buy and a close family friend that just so happened to also be Mikoto's godmother and the woman who introduced the Uchiha couple to each other. A fact that she never let Fugaku forget.

So when the boys were in school that day, Fugaku and Mikoto drove down to the hospital and were remained in the waiting room until their friend arrived. It didn't take her long to arrive.

"Mikoto-chan, Fugaku-kun," an aged honey like voice called out to the couple as a rather busty wheat blonde haired woman walked through the automatic doors. Her brown eyes immediately landing on the waiting couple. To everyone else in the hospital, the woman looked nothing like a professional doctor, more like a lady of the night than anything else. Her long wheat blonde hair was tied on either side of her head in low pigtails and the purple diamond tattoo rested in the middle of her forehead gave her a irresponsible persona. She had a nice lean figure, long toned legs covered by khaki pants, but her bust was popping out of the white v-cut blouse. The green lab coat thrown over the ensemble didn't hinder anything.

"Daibo." Mikoto was the first to get to her feet, hugging the woman as Fugaku stood from his chair and waited to greet his wife's godmother, Tsunade Senju. When the two parted, he held out his hand in greeting, but ended up getting a bone crushing hug instead. One of the reasons he wanted a handshake instead, the woman had super strength it seemed.

"Tsunade," Fugaku wheezed out. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

"Pleasure to see you too Fugaku-kun," the blonde haired woman replied, "I hope you're keeping my goddaughter happy, yes?"

After regaining his usual collective behavior after being crushed by what the Senju called a hug, the Uchiha in question looked straight into honey brown eyes. To everyone else around the hospital who bothered to take notice of the trio, the man looked very poise and unruffled as he matched the older woman's gaze. To Tsunade—who couldn't help bet smirk—she could see how the man's eyebrow twitched under her scrutiny eyes. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

"Daibo," Mikoto lightly chastised. Her godmother had always been a light over proactive of her ever since her parents died when she was fifteen. The woman had taken her in when her other family members chose not to and raised her. Tsunade had been a little adverse to her dating Fugaku at first, despite the fact, he made Mikoto happy and that was all that really mattered. "Fugaku-chan has been the best husband I've ever wanted. We've been happy and Itachi and Sasuke are doing great as well. We'd been talking about inviting you over for dinner sometime to catch up and see you again after your last trip to Hong Kong, but then this happened." The last part of the raven haired woman's sentence was spoken softly, her tone becoming remorseful.

Nodding her head in understanding, Tsunade pushed aside the pleasantries. "I too wish it was under better circumstances," the Senju responded gravely, before falling into a moment of silence. "Shall I go take a look at the patient then?"

Together, the small group walked through the crowded mazelike hallways of the hospital. The further they walked through the hospital, the less dense the crowd became till they were pretty much the only ones walking through the whitewashed walls. This was the private wing of the hospital, for the high status patients and those that needed more attention. Naruto just happened to be in the second category. Arriving in the room the Uzumaki had been moved to; they were surprised to find the room with a visitor other than them.

"Kakashi?" Fugaku called out upon seeing his godson. There was surprised evident in the tone, but it was the voice itself that jolted the off duty uniformed cop from his half asleep state. The white haired man almost fell out of the chair he was dozing off in, only to catch himself at the last second.

"Daifu? What are you doing here?" Kakashi asked groggily, the fatigue evident in his voice. Upon closer inspection, there were bags starting to form underneath his eyes and usually gravity defying white hair was limp. A lethargic hand came up and ran itself through the limp locks, making the locks more of a mess than they already were. The Hatake's looks told of a long night with a high probability of hard case; however, it was Kakashi referring to Fugaku as his godfather—in Japanese no less—that the Uchihas knew that there was something wrong.

"I could ask you the same thing Kakashi," the raven haired man answered, his eyes looking over the rumbled uniform that Kakashi usually took great pride in keeping it crisp and pristine. "What's wrong?"

Dark eyes filled with guilt and shifted uneasily, looking all around the room before landing on the bed. The occupant of which was lying motionless save for the steady raise and fall of his chest. A blanket was carefully draped over the thin pasty white body, arms lying on top of the fabric, needles and machinery hooked up to both appendages to monitor the patient's health. All it really did was make the young man lying on the bed look more frail and lifeless. The bruises seemed more visible and the bandages on his face hide his caved in cheeks.

"You know, after you took me in, raising me like I was your own, I considered you as my second parents. You even treated me like your son, pulling me out of the depression I fell into after my parents death and kicking me off my lazy ass when I was in trouble of flunking out of school," Kakashi chuckled slightly, remembering how Mikoto had all but thrown him out of the house in his boxers when he wouldn't get up and get ready for school. But to the others in the room, they could hear the sadness lacing every sound that excited the white haired man's voice. "I always promised myself if I ever got the chance to be a godparent, I would strive to be just like you Daifu.

"And then Kushina had her baby. A beautiful baby boy, he was so tiny and I thought I was going to drop him, but when he looked up at me with those baby blues I felt my heart stop. He the cuteness thing, and when Minato asked me to be his godfather, I jumped at the chance. I could fulfill my promise." At this point, Kakashi paused and reached across the small space between him and Naruto to gently brushing back a lock of dim blond hair out of his closed eyes before pulling away. A single tear cascading down his cheek. "For the first two years, I went and visited the tyke almost every single day; I was a constant in his life. I watched as he learned to crawl and I was the first to see him walk. He always was so happy and energetic, he looked exactly like his father, but his personality was entirely his mother's.

"And then, Kushina got pregnant again and there were complications. Minato quit the police force to take care of her until the baby was due, since she refused to abort the baby. That's when the station also had all those layoffs and without as many people to cover the work load, everyone was expected to take up an extra few shifts. My visits became less and less frequent over the months before I stopped going all together. I just hadn't the time anymore. I briefly heard that Kushina gave birth to another son but I was shock when I learned she died in childbirth.

"I went to the funeral, a bright and sunny day just like Kushina's personality, but no one was smiling. Everyone wore black and their eyes were filled with tears, not happiness. I watched as they lowered the casket into the ground and the guests give their condolence to Minato. Only once did I take notice of my small godson, sitting in one of the many rows of chairs, clinging tightly to an overly large orange blanket wrapped around a newborn baby. At the time, I didn't see anything wrong with the picture, he was just holding his baby brother, but when I think about it now, what parent would allow their two and a half year old son hold a baby without any supervision? I just didn't realize it and…and….and I failed him.

"I failed at being a godfather. I had always meant to go visit after the funeral, if only I had, I might have been able to see what was happening. I could have prevented this! This is all my fault, I sho-" Kakashi was interrupted.

"Hatake Kakashi, I did not raise you to be this way," Fugaku cut off the man from his pity party. He and the other two had been quiet throughout the entire tale, listening carefully to every word the Hatake said. Making sure that he held his godson's eyes with his own, the head of the Uchiha household continued on. "This was not your fault, you're not Minato, you didn't cause any harm to come to that boy. Got that?"

Looking away, Kakashi nodded his head, not daring to speak in fear his voice to give away. In his subconscious, he knew it wasn't his fault for what happened, but he also knew that he could done something if he stopped by. If only to checkup on his godson and be there for him if nothing else. That thought alone was eating him up inside. Even worse was that he was a cop, trained to read people, to see the signs of abuse, and he ignored them. Even back at Kushina's funeral, the beginning traces of neglect were there and he ignored it. He ignored it because he thought Minato wasn't that type of a person; he was a police officer and his mentor. How wrong he was.

Feeling a hand lightly caress his face, Kakashi looked up to see soft black eyes staring into his own. A tender smile offered in reassurance. Mikoto recalled when Kakashi had come over for a family dinner a couple of years before Itachi was born, telling them about his new godson. He was thrilled with the little boy and would tell them about him every chance he got, but after Itachi's birth, her godson never talked about the boy again and she never had a second thought about it. She never thought Kakashi's godson and Naruto were the same.

"I know that you feel like you could have done something to change the past, but that's not possible," hearing Mikoto speak, what he knew was the true, had Kakashi fighting back tears, but he wouldn't let them fall. "It's in the past, but you still can do something now. He alive thanks to you and Obito and when he wakes up, you still have the chance to be a great godfather. Tsunade is the best doctor around and she going to help Naruto, isn't that right Daibo?"

"I'll do everything in my power to help him," Tsunade answered with a seriousness that betrayed her appearance and showed her inner self. "Just give me time."

And they did. They gave Tsunade all the time and space she needed to fully diagnose Naruto's condition. She reviewed all of his charts, took blood samples, and changed the bandages around his chest and side to check how the wounds there were healing. Her results weren't favorable.

"So, what is the verdict Doctor?" Kakashi asked, the four adults sitting around one of the many tables in the hospital's cafeteria. A cup of coffee in each of their hands, save for Tsunade since she just arrived. The moment they noticed her presence, Fugaku was immediately up, pulling out a chair for the blonde woman to sit down in, and Mikoto was ordering double latte for her godmother.

"Not good, not good at all," Tsunade sighed, taking a seat in the chair provided, placing the manila folder she was carrying on the tabletop. Once her hands were free, they found their way to her temples and started to knead them without delay. Her head was killing her. The moment the waitress came by and delivered her latte, the Senju greedily drank the hot liquid up. The others surrounding her waited patiently for her report and she knew it, yet she wouldn't start until she had calmed down. It was obvious that the blond hadn't been in to see a proper doctor in years. "The most recent injures sustain contain a stab wound to the left lug, a deep gash to his side, and lacerations to the face along with other wounds one can only acquire in a struggle.

"His body also showed signs of malnourishment and fatigue, while his x-rays showed numerous brakes and fractures." The doctor pulled out a few different x-rays from the manila and passed them around the table, "it was clear that most of the fractures were left untreated and the breaks looked to be self set. The boy would have to endure a lot of pain to set some of the bones back into place." A grimace passed across Tsunade's face at the thought of reset bones without any anesthetics. "Out of the twenty-seven breaks and fracture counted, only two of them healed improperly. Two of his left ribs healed at an odd angle and the ER surgeons had to re-break and set them in their proper place during the operation as to not cause complications.

"As for his a coma, the only reason answer I can come up with is that it's self induced," the Senju's face was soft at this point, wary with all the unpleasant discoveries she out about Naruto's medical health. It was no wonder he was not waking up, after living the life she could only image, the Uzumaki's brain refused to wake up, not wanting to go through any more torture.

"Self induced?" Mikoto questioned, her words barely coming out more than a whisper. Tears cascading down her cheeks silently, while she interlaced her figures together to prevent them from trembling and to send a quick pray.

Seeing his wife's distress, Fugaku gathered her up in his arms and pulled her close to his body. One of his hands running through her black locks and he cooed soft nothingness into her ear in hopes of calming her down. His own angry at Minato Namikaze pushed to the back of his mind until he had time to deal with the man. Revenge would have to wait, for now.

"Is there anything you can do?" Kakashi desperately asked. "Anything to wake him?"

Slowing, Tsunade shock her head negatively. Self induced a comas were rare and there was no way of telling how to wake the person. It all depend if that coma patient wanted to wake or not, and as much as she hated to admit it, it was the patients that usually didn't wake up in the first few weeks that usually ended up dying. Naruto had already passed the week mark by a long shot. "There is one more thing, though."

* * *

It was around two in the morning when the door to Naruto's room opened with a slight creak as two men crept into the room. Neither of the duo talking to another, having come and gone enough times to not worry about fumbling about. Both knew exactly what they were doing and it wasn't like they were going to get caught. Even if they did, they could always worm their way out of the mess.

One of the two walked over to the head of the bed while the other stopped at the end of the bed and grabbed the charts. Flipping through them and checking them over, the man seemed to find what he was looking for and his eyes traveled greedily drank up the words. A smirk slowly spreading across his face and with a quick gesture to his companion, the second man grabbed hold of the IV drip flowing inside of the blond's veins. His other hand sinking into his pockets and producing a syringe filled with an unknown liquid.

Fiddling with the IV, the syringe harshly clattered to the ground when the lights flicked on. They had agreed to never use lights; it was draw to much suspension for lights to go on this late at night. With the lights on, the two men's appearances could be clearly seen. Both of them wore long white doctors' coats; however, the man reviewing the charts wore a nice dress shirts and black slacks underneath the white material which revealed his status as a doctor. The other man—the one holding the IV drip—was obvious that he was only the doctor's assistant from the scrubs he wore under his coat.

"Freeze!" Two guns were pointed at the intruders who immediately held up their hands. Kakashi, the one to flick the lights on, glared harshly at the doctor through the sights on his Glock. On his right, Obito held his gun on his assistant to make sure he didn't try anything funny.

For a moment, the room was still. Neither of the two sides daring to move, the hospital employees more so than the police officers; still, it was the doctor that made the first move. He tried to lower his hands and take a step forwards in order to resolve the issue at hand, but the Hatake pulled back the hammer, aiming it in between his eyes, and the man immediately stopped.

"I said freeze," Kakashi growled out, his glaring hardening. His eyes wandering over the two hospital employees, ingraining their appearances into his memory for later use while profiling them at the same time. Inky black hair contrasted greatly with the doctor's pale skin, telling the Hatake that the man didn't go out much and the grease in his hair meant he hadn't taken a shower a proper show for a while. The whites of his eyes were slightly pink while his irises were a haunting yellow color. It was obvious from how the doctor held himself and the way was the first to step forward that he was the leader of the two. Then there was the fact that Kakashi just didn't like the looks of the guy, but that was neither here nor there.

The doctor's assistant had messy grayish-white hair pulled back into a hasty done horsetail making him look older than the doctor at first glance. That was far from true, since the assistant was clearly a couple of decades younger looking than the doctor, and by the looks of it a few years older than Naruto. It was hard to determine the man's eye color through thick rimmed glasses, but they seemed to be a dark brown, almost black, and with the way that his eyes keep flickering towards the doctor every few seconds, Kakashi knew the assistant was looking for directions.

"Officers, what's seems to be the problem?" the doctor asked this time, having learned that these particular cops were not someone he should be messing around with. He even gave them a small smile—if one could call it a smile—to show that he meant to harm and shifting his weight as if he was nervous.

"Shut up. If there is going to be any questioning here, it's gonna come from us, got that?" Obito snapped, his eyes darting towards the doctor but his gun never leaving the white haired man. Cranking his head to an uncomfortable angle, the Uchiha called out the doorway behind him. "The area is secure, you're clear to enter."

A second later, Tsunade marched into the room, her eyes analyzing the situation; halting on the dark haired doctor when she was done. A dark look crossing her face.

"Orochimaru, it's been a long time since I last saw you. Playing the heroic doctor I see," the blonde sneered, taking a step towards the man that was once her classmate in medical school. "I was right to suspect you had something to do with this when I saw Kabuto Yakushi's name popping up on Naruto's medical roster. He is your favorite assistant after all. So what are you up to this time?"

The instant he saw Tsunade, Orochimaru knew that his cover had been blown. The smile on his face was lost and a scowl took its place while his eyes narrowed and became more like that of a serpent's. He had thought by working at a local hospital that he wouldn't be caught his time. The last hospital he had work at had covered up his misdeeds in order to prevent a lawsuit against him and he had been 'let go for finical reasons' when reality he was fired. The director from his old work had tried to blackmail him to never practice medicine again by threaten to release documentation of his experiments to the media. However, the man wasn't afraid since it would also come back at the director as well, but to be on the safe side, he applied for jobs at local hospitals and clinics. Moving around every so often as a precaution, and by working in mid class clinics instead of a high cutting edge medical facility, he thought that none of his old co-workers would find him since most of them wouldn't be caught dead working in such a low standard place.

As luck would have it, Tsunade Senju, the only person to oppose the decision on not turning him over to the cops, found him. The woman had raise holy hell that the director let him get away relatively scratch free. She claimed he would do it again and everyone else opposed her, saying he wouldn't dare, he wasn't that senseless to try again. She was the one that knew him best and it seemed she had been keeping tabs on him, since he hadn't meet his grey haired assistant until three months after he left Japan four years ago.

"Whatever do you mean, Ms. Tsunade?" Kabuto asked, feigning innocence.

Turning her attention towards Kabuto, a snip of a smirk formed on her face. "I take it your little assistant here doesn't know that we go way back to the early days, huh?" The grey haired man's face paled upon hearing her words. "So let's cut the bullshit and get down to business. What the hell are you giving him?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Orochimaru asked mockingly. A smug smile spreading across his face; however, the even smugger smile that crossed the blonde's face did not sit well with his stomach.

"We're going to have to do this the hard way then, I take it," Tsunade commented offhandedly. "Well then, their all yours then boys."

"My pleasure," Kakashi replied, pistol-whipping the snake's skull. Obito being a tad bit more brutal with Kabuto than his blood-brother and nailing the assistant in the stomach and then hitting him in the skull.

Wanting to have plausible deniability of any such misconducts, Tsunade turned around and exited the door, only wishing she could have stayed to watch the brutal sounds coming from behind her.

* * *

Kakashi was not supposed to be neither Naruto's godfather or Fugaku's godson. He was only supposed to only be Obito's best friend and partner, but he really wanted to be a part of the family, `cause that's how he wrote himself in.

Question for this chapter: Yeah, did anyone get the reference that it was Tsunade that was the Uchiha's family doctor in the previous chapters?

**_Shi no Tenshi 902_**


	9. Ethereality

Yeah, we are nearing the end. Next chapter is going to be the last. Don't know when I'll have it done, cause school is a killer, but hope you all like. Also, thanks to you who nice enought to wish me well on my test or asked about them. I really don't know how I survived all of them, but I did.

Someone asked me to tell them about the Tsunade referance, I'm not going to give the exact quote, but it's in the part where Sasuke hits his head and the Uchihas' call in the family doctor (who can understand Mikoto when she's speaking in Japanese...hint-hint).

* * *

It was tranquil. That was the first thing he realized as his conscious weaved in and out of awareness. His mind hazy and wouldn't focus, yet he knew there was something important he had to remember. He needed to remember, the tip of it just slightly out of reach. He kept struggling, trying to reach the allusive thought and he was just about to grab it, but then the footsteps came. Just like every other time he was about to catch the memory and then he would be sent back into the darkness, where he couldn't think at all.

He didn't want to go back there. The darkness scared him, encircled him and refused to let go no matter how much he struggled. He hated it there. In the darkness there was no worries, no memories; no nothing. He couldn't even remember his name, he didn't know who he was; he was ignorant to the world. But the darkness was anything but a bliss nothingness. It was nothing. He was nothing confined within his grasps.

His thoughts fled him when he felt the begin of the darkness creeping into his mind. He screamed and hollered, but he knew no sound ever left his mind, and once again the void captured him again. He was nothing once again.

* * *

This had gone on for awhile, he couldn't actual say when because he had no idea how much time passed by when the darkness consumed him. But he never gave up, each chance he got to reach for his allusive memories he fought to grasp hold of them and each time he failed, his faith wavered ever so slightly. Yet there was always a new hope that would surface within him that he _would_ reach it next time. However, he didn't know how many more times he had failed before there was a change.

The footsteps had come, but the darkness had not come right away like it always had. No, instead there was people talking, he couldn't make out the words, his mind was too much in a mess to make sense out of the heated conversation. The next thing he knew was the sounds of fighting. He knew those sounds well, he didn't know why—his memories inaccessible—but they brought fear to him and small whimper escaped him throat. It was then, for the first time the darkness had caged him within its grasps that he finally was able to remember who he was before he drifted off again. This time he didn't drift off into the void, but into a much need restful state of mind. The knowledge of who he was never to escape his grasp.

He was Naruto Uzumaki.

* * *

The next time he had any conscious thought, Naruto's mind was still clouded, but not as hazy as it was before. He could think, though his mind tended to jump from topic to topic, without having—unknowingly to him—an adverse reaction to an experiment drug that sent him in to a coma. Still, there were some of his memories just out of reach that he knew he needed to remember but couldn't quite obtain.

Naruto had tried to open his eyes several times, but they wouldn't obey him. They felt as if someone had glued his eyelids together with superglue and then, just for the heck of it, filled the rest of his body up with lead. There was a dull pain in his chest, right over his heart and his side would throb with ever beat of his hear. He was slightly worried that there was no feeling coming from either of his arms or legs. However, after much perseverance, the blond was able to make his fingers twitch lethargically and in an instant pain shot through his arms. An agonizingly painful cry wrenched itself from his throat as his body seemed to start burning ruthlessly at the simple movement.

A cold object was placed on his head and it took the Uzumaki a moment to realize that it was a hand. A hand which was jerked away from his head and hastily replaced with what he only assume was a wet cloth. Droplets of excess water began to trickle into his hair, cooling his scalp, while some flowed into the crevasses of his eyes. To Naruto, they almost felt like tears, wonderfully chilly tears against his too hot skin.

Tears. The simple thought sent his brain spiraling as the memories that he couldn't reach came crashing down on him. He saw the tears leak out of violet eyes, pleading with him not to leave, that everything was going to be alright when Minato had come home in his most violent drunken spur ever and he had tried to hide Kyuubi away in the back of his closet. But he couldn't stay, there wasn't enough room for the both of them to fit inside and close the door too. He would have had them escape through the windows and make a run for it; if it hadn't been for the fact of the iron bars across the window that were supposed to keep burglars out were now keeping them jailed within their own house. Naruto remembered everything from Minato find him and the beating to when the drunkard tried to forcefully exercise the demonic Kyuubi no Kitsune from his home.

He bolted up, the wet cloth falling from his head and his eyes snapping open, scanning the room. Looking for his brother and his abusive father in their dark, trashed—thanks to Minato—home, hoping he had not failed Kyuubi. However, all he found was whitewashed blank walls and different medical supplies all scattered across the room; neither his father nor Kyuubi anywhere insight. It took a second to click that he wasn't even in his house and that the only person in the room other than him was a woman with dark black hair. The white outfit she wore exposed her status of a nurse and features foretold of her Asian descent.

Naruto tried to call out his brother's name, but all that came out was a cry as his chest gave way to excruciating pain. His right arm coming up to grab hold of his chest. He didn't get the chance as the same cold hands as before restrained both his arms, keeping them away from his chest area.

"No, stop that Naruto, you're going to hurt yourself," the nurse tried to soothe the blond. She needed to keep his hands away from his chest, the blond had to be under constant watch because of Dr. Orochimaru and Kabuto (both in jail waiting for trail on both federal and criminal charges). The drug they had been using the Uzumaki as a test subject for had not only put him in a coma, but was highly addictive. Naruto had gone through withdrawal symptoms when he wasn't administered the drug and at one point, he had scratched his arms raw when he was in an unconscious state. That's when Tsunade had put him on the high alert list and made it mandatory for someone to be in the room with him at all times.

So when she had seen Naruto's hand moving towards his chest, Shizune immediately restrained his arms so he couldn't do anymore harm to himself. She could feel the gasp of pain that escaped his body and the whimpers that followed and as carefully as she could, the brunette laid the blond back down onto the bed. She quickly filled up a cup of water and grabbed the tiny plastic container filled with pills by the bedside table. Propping the teen up once again, she coaxed him to take the pain killers Tsunade had instructed all the medical personal watching over Naruto to give him upon waking and made sure he didn't choke as he greedily drank the chilled liquid.

Shizune barely caught the words of thanks rasped out and a slight smile spread across her face. "You're welcome." Ignoring the glare from the artificial lights coming off the clock, the brunette took note that it a quarter to eleven at night. She knew that she should call Tsunade—the woman had made it clear that if the patient were to wake up she was to be notified immediately—yet, she was a little nervous at leaving the blond's side for even a moment after seeing what he had done to his arms; and that had been when he was asleep. She was afraid to see what he would do to himself when he was awake.

Thinking that if she hurried, nothing terrible would happen to the patient, Shizune turned on her heels towards the door. She didn't get fair, as a clammy hand lightly wrapped around her wrist in an effort to stop her.

"Kyuubi," Naruto wheezed out when he knew he had the nurse's attention. His throat dry and scratchy, bothering him somewhat, but he continued. "My brother, whe-re, where is he?" The words were asked in between desperate gasps for air. "He's-s not hu-urt, is he?"

"You're brother's fine Mr. Uzumaki," Shizune replied, not sure what else to say. She knew little about the situation of the extent of the patient's injures, but she knew from gossip that the blond had sustained most of his injuries protecting his brother and his friends. That was it.

"A-and, Sasuke and Itachi? Are they ok-kay too?" the Uzumaki persisted, his voice becoming a bit stronger by wavering as well.

"They're fine as well."

"Good," Naruto said, his grip on Shizune letting go as he rested his head against the pillow once again. His fears fluttering away as he drifted off to sleep once again.

* * *

When they got the phone call at twelve thirty at night, Fugaku was about to murder the person on the end of the line for waking him up. He had just fallen to sleep, but when he heard Tsunade's voice on the end of the line, he was instantly alert. Their conversation was crisp in tone and to the point, the call was purely professionalism. His wife, who had been disturbed from her sleep by the ringing of the phone, had woken up in a matter of seconds upon hearing Fugaku's voice hard. Only hearing one side of the conversation, Mikoto began to worry.

The woman didn't say a word until the phone was resting back in its cradle on the bedside table. Even then, she didn't have to say anything, one looked into her husband's eyes and he said all there was needed to say. It was still go to hear the words spoken though.

"Naruto's awake."

The two had decided, when—not if—the teenager had awoke, they would take their sons and Kyuubi to the hospital. Fugaku and Mikoto didn't know the blond personally, but they knew what any person would need. It didn't matter what it time was, Naruto needed to know that there were people out there who cared about him. People who wouldn't physically abuse him. It was human nature to want acceptance and feel wanted, something that they would give him. He needed a stable environment; they would give him that too. Most importantly, he needed a real family and they would definitely give him that too. After being physically abused for years and looking out for his brother, it was time someone looked after him.

"I'll go wake the boys," Mikoto whispered softly, shuffling out of the bed and pulling one a robe.

Fugaku nodded his head in understanding as he slipped out of bed and headed towards the mahogany desk where his laptop rested. Pushing the power bottom on, the Uchiha waited for the modem to load up before opening up his files and skimming through them until he reached the file labeled Uzumaki. Clicking open the file, the man began to type down the date and time. He tagged the information for later use, saved the document, and closing down the laptop all before Mikoto got back.

The file was his little pet project, unknown to the rest of his family, him, Kakashi, and Obito were working up a case for Naruto and Kyuubi. They were going through his and Kyuubi's history to form a lawsuit against Minato for child endangerment (the state would charge the Namikaze for attempted murder) and then they were going Orochimaru and Kabuto for Naruto on the count of medical malpractice. When he was through with the all of them, they would have a long stay in a maximum security facility—too bad that they death penalty wasn't still in use—and the Uzumaki brother would be very rich, compensation money for their suffering and such.

"Fugaku-chan, the boys are getting ready," Mikoto stated as she reentered the room after informing all three teens what was going on. "You better get ready to go too."

"I am," Fugaku said, pulling some casual clothing out of the dresser adjacent to his desk, making it look as if that was what he had been doing all along.

* * *

The drive to the hospital had been made in silence, no one knowing what to say, but it was longer than some would have liked. The anticipation of what was to come not as exciting as it was frightening. They did not know what Naruto's reaction would be; Mikoto and Fugaku had both had to deal with similar cases. After a drastic incident, a person would totally change, becoming someone entirely different because of trauma and such. Then there was the fact the teen was abused since his brother was born and there was no doubt in Tsunade's mind that the blond had some type of mental trauma. The standing question was how would it change who Naruto was?

Mikoto and Fugaku both hoped nothing changed too drastically in the Uzumaki, for their boys and Kyuubi's sake. Not when Kyuubi had finally started to act like himself for the first time since the accident. Fugaku had heard Itachi praising Naruto a couple of time, his oldest son being impressed with the blond's abilities and respected him as a person, now more than ever before. And Sasuke, Sasuke looked up to the older Uzumaki. Mikoto wasn't blind to her sons either, she knew that both of them held a soft spot for the Uzumaki brothers in general, but she also knew that where as Itachi had taken a special liking to Kyuubi—even admitting it to the whole family—Sasuke liked Naruto and not in the platonic since either. She could see that her youngest son was falling for the oldest Uzumaki, but he wasn't ready to admit it. Not yet anyways.

When they finally arrived at the local hospital, Kyuubi was the first to jump out of the car, even though it wasn't fully parked yet, and was running to the building. Itachi was the next one out, calling after his boyfriend to wait but the redhead either didn't hear or wasn't listening, forcing the older Uchiha sibling to chase after the Uzumaki. Sasuke was running after them, having been caught by his seatbelt and the damn device didn't want to seem to release at first. Once he was free he dashed towards the hospital as well. The adults having to lock the doors to the car and speed walk in hopes of keeping up with the boys and not fall behind.

It was no surprise when Kyuubi was the first to come skidding to a halt in front of the entrance to his brother's room and flinging the door open with such force that a loud bang ricocheted off the walls. The first thing that he saw, was the doctor that the Uchihas had specially hired to look after Naruto standing in front of the bed, blocking his view of its occupant. He could hear her voice talking, the words not registering in his mind, as she was drawing blood and when she moved aside, Kyuubi was able to get a profile glimpse of his brother and he couldn't stop himself.

He was hugging Naruto with all his might, tears flowing down his face and nonsense coming out of his mouth. Kyuubi himself did not know when he crossed the room, but he didn't care either. He was hugging the one person that cared enough about him to put his life before anything else, even if it meant the blond's own life. He never wanted to let go. Kyuubi was afraid that if he did let go, Naruto would disappear. That he would relapse in to another a coma or this was all a sick horrible nightmare and his brother had yet to wake up. However, when he felt a hand brush through his loose wild locks of hair and looked up into deep aquatic blue eyes with his own tear filled violet, he knew this wasn't a nightmare, it wasn't a dream either. The gently reassuring smile directed solely towards him and the sweet coos whispered to calm him down told the redhead otherwise.

Slowly, with some hesitation, Kyuubi reached a shaky hand up and ran his fingers across his brother's face, where bandages use to reside. The slightly raised scar tissue against his callused fingers making him whine softly, knowing it was his fault the blond had them. Minato had made sure that he watched as he cut three lines on either side of Naruto's face—making six in total—to mark the blond as the Jinchuuriki he was, or at least that was what the drunken man had slurred out.

"I'm sorry." Those were the first coherent words that Kyuubi uttered and he himself meant to say.

A hand lightly grabbed a hold of the redhead's wrist, pulling it away from the scars. "Never be sorry, I'm not," Naruto replied, locking eyes with his little brother's. "I would do everything again; gladly die even, if it meant you would live. All of you." The last part was directed towards the two Uchiha brothers standing just outside the doorway, not wanting to intrude; nevertheless, when the oldest Uzumaki's eyes turned towards them, they both knew it was a request to come in and they eagerly joined Kyuubi next to the bed. "Besides, I don't look like _him_ anymore."

It didn't take a genius to figure out who he was talking about, and three boys would have fallen into their desolate thoughts and memories of just why Naruto was in the hospital in the first place if it wasn't for the sunny grin that crossed over his face. The others could help but smile back, the dark thoughts pushed away into the deep recessives of their minds.

"They make you look more like cat than anything else," Itachi decided to put in his two-cent worth. Sadly, that just earned him a glare from his boyfriend and a thump on his head.

"No they don't! Felines are horrible menaces! Anii looks nothing like them!" Kyuubi barked out. "If anything, he looks like a…a…a-" The redhead was at a lose for words, he couldn't think of an animal that hand whiskers and wasn't his most hated nuisance.

"Kitsune," Sasuke finished the sentence without even thinking. For him, that was what he had recently been seeing Naruto as, a kitsune. The oldest Uzumaki sibling had the ability to trick others—he made them see him as a perfectly normal teenager with no problems in the world when he was definitely not—he was undeniably a faithful guardian towards his brother and a good friend as well. His eyes held wisdom the youngest Uchiha had never noticed before now and his hair was gold, the color a kitsune's fur would turn when it gained its ninth tail. The only aspect that didn't match up with the folklore, at least from what Sasuke knew, was if Naruto made a good lover and wife, foxes were sensual beings after all.

"Yeah! Exactly, a kitsune!" Kyuubi continued to chastise Itachi for even thinking to call his beloved brother a cat, not noticing any alternative meanings behind the youngest raven's words.

It was at this time that the older Uchiha couple finally caught up and entered the room. Naruto was the first to notice them, since the younger teens were all facing him and away from the door, and tensed up. An action which went unnoticed by Itachi and Kyuubi since they were held up with their _conversation_, but Sasuke certainly didn't overlook the action. Following the blond's stare, the young Uchiha found that the beautiful blue eyes were locked on his parents as they entered the room. He couldn't understand the Uzumaki's reaction.

Then again, he could.

However, as the couple came closer and into the light, Naruto calmed down. It was exactly as Sasuke had suspected, the lights on in the hallway were dimmed so they wouldn't bother patients but still light enough for the nurses and doctors to see where they were going. On the other hand, the lights on in Uzumaki's room were all the way on, making a shadowed area in the doorway and it was his father who was the same height and build as Minato to cross the threshold first. Shrouded in darkness and in his current state of mind, Sasuke knew that Naruto had assumed the silhouette to be his father and his body tensed in response. Only when he saw that it wasn't the psychopath did the injured teen calm down.

Itachi was none too gently elbowed in the side by his little brother, effectively breaking up his conversation with Kyuubi and indicated for him to shut up. The older sibling was about to lash out at the action, but upon noticing his parents' presence, he immediately halted. Stepping aside, the Uchiha brothers made room for their parents while Kyuubi stayed at the front of the bed.

"Hello Naruto," Mikoto greeted the blond first, a smile on her face. Fugaku gave his own greeting, a nod of his head, and turned his lips upwards in a fashion that wasn't exactly a smile but not a smirk either.

Seeing the kind gestures, a slightly strained smile appeared on Naruto's face in return and uncertainty clouded his eyes. "Hello…uh, not to be rude or anything, but who are you?"

"Anii, this is Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha, Weasel-chan and Sasuke's parents," Kyuubi introduced, seeing the uneasiness in his brother's eyes and knowing that the blond would trust him. "They've been really nice to me the last couple of weeks and have taken care of me too. And they've also helped you too; they're paying for all the medical bills."

Naruto was a bit wary of the two dark haired adults, but when his brother explained who they were, he became relaxed. When the redhead went further with his explanation, the older Uzumaki sibling felt indebted to the Uchihas for taking care of the only family he had left. That they were even taken care of his medical bills just had dumbfounded Naruto. He could understand them helping Kyuubi since he was Itachi's boyfriend and they knew him from the amount of time the redhead spent at the Uchiha household, but him? He gave them no reason to help him. He didn't even know them save from hearsay. That was it. There was nothing more between the blond Uzumaki and the older generation of Uchihas.

"Thank you for everything you've done," Naruto expressed his gratitude towards the couple in front of him. "I'll pay you back somehow, I promise."

Tears started to form in Mikoto's eyes as she listened to the teen. Here was the boy that saved both her sons' lives as well as his own brother's and he was thanking them. He was thanking them for taking care of his brother when it wasn't even necessary. They were repaying him and he wanted to pay them back. Naruto was truly a precious soul.

"No," Fugaku's strong voice denied the blond's offer. "You've done enough. You don't needed to do anything more."

"But-," Naruto tried to argue with the lawyer. He wasn't going to win. His odds of winning dropped down even more when Mikoto joined in.

"No buts and no more arguing," the female Uchiha stated; her tone absolute. "You don't need to pay us back and that's final, got that?" Naruto opened his mouth to disagree, but one glare from Mikoto had him snapping his mouth shut.

"Yes Ma'am."

"Good. Now, Daibo, is there any changes we should know about Naruto-kun's condition?" the raven haired woman asked. Her personality doing a complete one-eighty as her voice went from hard and final to soft and caring.

Tsunade, who throughout the whole time was standing in the corner of the room, watching the scene unfold in front of her, nodded her head. "There is."

Motioning towards the door, the doctor asked Fugaku and Mikoto to follow her to give the teenage boys room to talk while they had some privacy of their own. Exiting the room, the three adults didn't go far, just out in the hallway, right before the open door so that Tsunade could keep an eye on her patient.

"So what's wrong Tsunade?" Fugaku asked, watching the blonde woman's face for any gesture to indicate if the news was good or bad. He always found what he wanted when looking a person straight in the eyes seeing as the eyes reveals all about a person, and it was even easier with the Senju since she couldn't hold a poker-face. He didn't have to look hard at all, not when the emotions played across Tsunade's face.

A grimace spread across the doctor's face as her honey brown eyes flickered over towards the blond who was attentively listening to the redhead. "Honestly, I don't know. His injures are healing okay, but his chest needs more time to heal along with his side. He shouldn't do anything too extraneous now that he is awake. However, I'm more worried about the drug Orochimaru was testing on him."

At the mention of the snake's name, Fugaku narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"From what I've been able to determine, the drug Orochimaru was testing was to help speed up a person's healing. Instead, the drug has been fighting against Naruto's immune system and in result, his healing was actually being slowed down," Tsunade explained her reason's for concern. "And then, we don't know what—if there is any—side effects the drug will cause in the long run. In the next couple of weeks, we'll have to keep a close eye on the boy."

"Understood," the head of the Uchiha household stated, turning his attention back into the room where his wife's attention had been focused for a while.

Inside the room, Kyuubi was handing over the once torn orange blanket over to his brother who had tears sliding down scarred cheeks and Mikoto couldn't stop the tears well up in her own eyes. She had helped the redhead mend the soft material when she had found him sitting on the floor one night trying his hardest to sew the pieces back together with tears flowing down his cheeks. When she had asked him what was wrong, he had told her how his mother—even though he had never meet her—was an excellent seamstress and both times she was pregnant she made a special blanket; a bright orange blanket for Naruto and a red blanket with foxes on it for him. The pieces of cloth before him were all that was left of the only gift left from their mother to his brother. It meant the world to him and now it was in pieces.

"And mentally?" Mikoto asked, turning her attention back towards her godmother. "How will he be mentally? You said that there might be negative repercussions because of the child abuse."

A content expression spread across Tsunade's face as relief spread through her. "As much as I hate being wrong, I'm not this time. Naruto is not weak minded or else he would have broken a long time ago under his father's beatings. He has something to live for and connect him to reality," at this the blonde made it a point to look towards Kyuubi who was currently sitting next to his brother on the bed, stroking the blond hair since the older teen was fighting off sleep and losing the battle. The Uchiha brothers were standing around the bed consulting with the Uzumakis. "As long as he has a connection to life, he will pull through this unscathed. That I can assure you."

* * *

A loud chirping noise awoke the sleeping blond and he had to stop himself from groaning. His body was still tired and he wanted to go back to bed, but as other birds started tweeting as well, Naruto knew that he wasn't going to be getting back to sleep anytime soon. He had stayed awake up until three-thirty or so in the morning before sleep finally overcame his willpower to stay awake to be with his brother and the Uchihas. Most of his time was spent talking to Kyuubi about random topics which either Sasuke or Itachi would join in on every now and again. Near the end of the early morning visit, Dr. Tsunade had given all of them a quick overview on his condition; though, Naruto knew that there was more to it than what she said, since the doctor had told him the full extent of his injuries before his visitors had arrived. He also knew she had taken the older Uchiha couple aside and told them the full extent as well, which he had no problem with. They were paying for his medical bills after all.

As the birds continued their early morning chattering, insisting he should wake up, the Uzumaki slowly opened his heavy eyes, not having to shield them from any intense light since there was none. All the lights in the room were off and the curtains to his room closed, only letting a sliver of the sun's rays through to rest upon the wall right above a chair. Just by looking at the chair, Naruto knew the piece of furniture had to be uncomfortable as hell. He couldn't understand why anyone would be willing to sit down on the ladder-back seat. Neither could he comprehend how someone could fall asleep in it, but there was someone doing just that.

An older man with white hair—or was it silver? He couldn't tell in the poor lighting—was slouched in the chair, lightly snoring. A book teetering in his left hand, threatening to fall at any given second from the lax grasp on the spine, and a cup of cold coffee rested at his feet. It was the wrinkled police uniform that got Naruto really wondering. Why was there a cop in his room?

After going through all the logical possibilities, as well as eliminating them all, of why the police wanted to see him, the Uzumaki was only left with one option. "Ano, uh, Jiji, wake up," Naruto called out to the white haired cop without any hesitation. Not caring that he was mixing Japanese with English, the blond did so on purpose so that the police officer wouldn't know he had just been called an old man. Sadly, the cop won't wake. He only groan and dropped his book to the floor before falling back into his original state of sleep. A twitch developed above Naruto's right eye. "OI! JIJI! Wake Up!"

Startled at the sudden noise, the man sprang up, only to have his legs collapse on him since they were asleep and him crashing to the floor. The coffee cup was tipped over in the process and the contents spilling all over the floor where the nice dark blue officer's shirt proceeded to soak up the liquid. Even more interesting was the fact that the book the man had been reading had ended up cushioning the policeman's head seeing as how his face was buried into the pages, literally. Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at the man's predicament, even though he was trying so hard to hold back his full blown laughter.

Hearing the chuckles, Kakashi picked himself up semi-gracefully and turned his attention to his godson. His own godfather had given him a call around two in the morning, informing him Naruto had finally woken up. However, he had the graveyard shift with Obito and couldn't leave work. It didn't help that he was on the other side of town either and by the time he could go through all the necessary procedures to get someone to cover his area, it would already be the time for him to go. He had ended up finishing his shift and Obito had dropped him off at the hospital on their way back to the station, his best friend and blood-brother promising to clock him out so he didn't have to worry about it.

By the time he finally reached the hospital, it was almost four in the morning and he had just missed his godparents and the rest of the family leaving according to the nurse on duty. Naruto was sleeping when he entered the room and he decided to only stay for a little while, to check up on the boy. To keep himself awake for his short visit, he had gotten himself a cup of coffee from the vending machine down the hallway and to the left and decided to read his Icha Icha Paradise book. At least until he was finished drinking his coffee, then he would leave. Being as tired and drained as he was, Kakashi had ended up falling asleep instead.

His wake up call was not expected and the results unwanted, but seeing his godson before him, holding back his laughter the best he could, smiling, Kakashi would have had it no other way. He could see the little blond haired blue eyed tyke still inside of Naruto. The little boy that Kakashi fear Minato had stripped away from the boy. He had been afraid for Naruto. But it seemed he needn't be. His godson was still there and he would do everything in his power to give the boy what he needed.

"Who are you, Jiji?" the blond asked, once his chuckles had died down.

This time, it was Kakashi who developed a twitch above his right eye. "I am not old, gaki!"

"Well, your hair tells me otherwise," the reply was emphasized with a figure being pointed at his white hair.

"Yeah, well, I was born with white hair, it's a family trait I suppose," the cop replied nonchalantly with a shrug of his shoulders.

"That still doesn't tell me who you are," the blond pointed out from his bed as he struggled to grab a glass of water sitting on the rolling tray next to his bed. The damn thing was just out of his reach and he was dying of thirst, or at least that was what it seemed like to him.

Seeing the teen's distress, and knowing that the boy would only end up hurting himself even more if this kept up, Kakashi picked up the glass and handed it to Naruto. "I'm Kakashi Hatake," at this part the man paused to let the blond finish the water and to make sure he had the teen's full attention. "Your Godfather."

Aquatic blue eyes blinked a few times in disbelief and Kakashi feared what his godson would do as his eyes began to flicker. "Honto ni? Really?" All the Hatake could do was nod his head, not trusting his voice when he could hear the slight mistrust in Naruto's tone. The blond then closed his eyes, a thoughtful expression covering his face. "You were at my mother's funeral. You're the only one that gave me any notice that day. I remember you smiling at me before I lost sight of you in the crowd," the teen stated, his brow scrunching up as he tried to remember his childhood. "I remember being happy to see you, but disappointed when you left." Finally, blues eyes were revealed once more and Kakashi could have sworn they were staring straight into his soul. "Ka-ka-shi-shi?"

A small smile spread across the white haired man's face at hearing his godson repeat the nickname he had been dubbed with when the blond was a tyke. "Hai."

"You know, I like calling you Jiji better," Naruto stated, a smile on his face as he watched Kakashi's eye twitch again.

"Gaki," the cop growled out, glaring at the grinning teen; though, neither of them could keep a straight face for long and both of them ended up bursting out in laughter. For the rest of the day, the two became reacquainted with each other. They joked with each other and just talked. Kakashi tried to refrain from asking about what Minato did to Naruto and Kyuubi, but it slipped out. He tried to retract the question, but the blond, with a bitter smile on his face, answered him truthfully. He told his godfather explicitly what he had gone through living with the alcoholic and the man keep on apologizing for never being around to help. In fact, Naruto got so sick of hearing him apologizes and reassuring his godfather it wasn't his fault that every time Kakashi did apologize he had to give the Uzumaki a dollar.

So far, Kakashi owed Naruto forty-two dollars and fifty cents on top of the ten he already gave him. The fifty cents coming from the halfway said sorry the white haired man let slip out.

It was nearing the end of the day, the sun having long since set, that the Hatake even thought about heading home. "Jiji," Naruto called out as Kakashi was heading out the door, his stained uniform top draped over his shoulders and the white shirt he wore underneath his regular attire seen, "before you go, can I ask you a favor of you?"

"Anything, Gaki," his godfather answered, a smile on his face. "You name it."

* * *

Question for this chapter: Does Sasuke seem a little perverted to anyone? After all, he's thinking about Naruto being a kitsune as a sensual lover.

**_Shi no Tenshi 902_**


	10. Definite

A question was asked if the medicine that Orochimaru used on Naruto was real...ah, as far as I know, no. I just made it up.

* * *

"You sure about this Gaki?" Kakashi asked, looking down at the blond in the wheelchair. "I mean there are-"

"Jiji," Naruto cut his godfather off, his tone reflecting his annoyance at the constant questioning of his motive and the fact he was being pushed around in a wheelchair. He didn't need the damn thing, he could walk just fine without it, but hospital regulations stated that he had to have it. "I'm sure… Unless you decided to change your mind that is?"

"Hell no," the man snapped back, looking away from the aquatic blue eyes that stared through him; causing him to miss the grin that he had only seen on one person whenever she got her way. Kushina was always like that. "I just wanted to make sure you were positive about this."

"I am Jiji, I am," the blond answered, his tone a bit heavier than before but just as strong. "Don't worry about it."

"Okay then," the Hatake said, his voice the same tone as his godson's for only a moment before perking up. "I guess it's to the Uchiha household then. We just have to wait for-." The screeching of tires interrupted Kakashi as a burnt red car came skidding to a halt only inches away from the curb. A man wearing a black shirt with a yellow smile face on the front and blue jeans steeped out the sports car. His eyes were covered by a pair of dark sun glasses and his hair in a mess after driving through town with the top to the convertible was down.

Naruto immediately perked up when he caught sight of the driver. "Obito!" Turning around in his the chair, the blond glared up at his godfather. "Jiji, you didn't tell me Obito gonna stop by."

"It must have slipped my mind," the Hatake muttered under his breath, but his present company could hear the grin in his voice. Even though his partner and godson had known each other for a little less than two weeks, they had acted as if they had known each other for years. The two were so similar in personality, that it was unbelievable; and what was even worse, both of them teamed up together to make Kakashi's life twice as difficult. But he couldn't really complain, not when Naruto was smiling, even more now since Dr. Tsunade had finally discharged him from the hospital after his long stay.

The blond's injuries were almost finished healing—or already healed—and there was no need for the hospital to keep him for observational reasons because the drug Orochimaru gave him wasn't demonstrating any adverse effects. The only caution was that Tsunade had for Naruto was to ease back into everyday life slowly and if there were any problems, mentally or physically, he was to be taken to see a doctor immediately. Preferably her.

"Oi, Ru! You ready to go?" Obito asked, pulling his sunglass up to rest on top of his head. His answer was a nod of his head and an enthusiastic grin, which was returned with just as much enthusiasm. Walking over to the blond, the Uchiha helped his blood-brother get Naruto settled into his car and made sure he was comfortable. That was right before he peeled out of the hospital parking lot, Kakashi in the back cursing at his insane driving habits. Laughter was the all response he got.

* * *

With Obito's driving, the trio arrived at the Uchiha household in less than fifteen minutes. A new record for the Uchiha and one he was quite pleased with himself for. Moreover, he only got one speeding violation too. Well, only one speeding violation that he had been caught on, which wasn't really a violation seeing as he didn't receive a ticket. After bullshitting with the arresting officer and explaining that they were on the way to home after Naruto had a long stay at the hospital, the policeman gave him a simple warning.

Pulling up the driveway, the little group was greeted by Mikoto who had a wheelchair ready for use, much to Naruto's displeasure. Again, he had insisted he didn't need the chair; however, the woman was persistent and he ended up being wheeled into the house by his godfather's godmother. The last part, the Uzumaki found very ironic. His brother was dating Itachi Uchiha and his godfather's godparents were the raven's parents. Just went to show him that it wasn't such a big world after all. Everyone was connected in some way or another.

"Mrs. Uchiha, I'm fine," Naruto assured Mikoto again. The woman's motherly nature and hospitality was really appreciated, but he wasn't used to being doted on. He was the one usually the one looking after his brother's well being and taking care of Minato when he was passed out on the couch, so the whole situation felt strange to him. He wanted to do something to help out, but the raven haired woman had taken care of everything. Kakashi and Obito were instructed to make the den into a makeshift room for him because of Dr. Tsunade's orders to not strain himself and climbing stairs could cause strain on his body.

"Okay," Mikoto finally gave in, her tone a little bit skeptical. Finally, she sat down in the loveseat across from the couch Naruto was currently resting upon. "If you're sure."

"Hai," the blond nodded affirmatively, finding it easier to answer the woman in Japanese as he had learned she tended to favor the language when she was highly emotional.

With all the times Kyuubi visited, bring along at least two Uchihas at a time, Naruto got to get to know Mikoto and Fugaku instead of only relying on hearsay and he found he like both of them quite well. Mikoto was the one taking Kyuubi to the hospital the majority of time and Naruto had found her real easy to talk to. She was a very complex woman and had learned that there were two sides to her. The business side, were her emotions were well in check and there was a regal feel to her, which he had seen only once when Minato's lawyer had come to talk to him and she sent him cowering away. Then there was the material side to her, which the Uzumaki had found himself being drawn in by her compassion and caring nature.

Then there was Fugaku. He seemed frightening and cold at first, his posture and gestures that of a man with high status; yet, when the man was around his family and not so guard, he was the stereotypical father. He was constantly teased his children, telling humiliating stories about their childhood that had Itachi and Sasuke blush and glare daggers at him. He showed great affection and love towards his wife, and he cared more about his family than his reputation. Naruto enjoyed himself when he could talk with the man, the man was highly intelligent and he was always learning new things during their conversations.

"Now I would like to talk to you about your decision," the raven brought up the new subject with all seriousness. Her dark orbs locking onto the aquatic blue sphere. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Hearing the question for the second time that day, Naruto couldn't help but smile. "Jiji asked me that before we left and I haven't changed my mind since; yes, I'm sure. For the longest of time, I've been taking care of Kyuubi—not that I've mind, I love my brother and I'd do anything for him—but I've never taken care of myself. I need to do this, for myself."

Satisfied with his reply, the lawyer nodded her head before playing devil's advocate. "What about Kyuubi-kun? Are you sure you're doing what's best for him?"

"I'm sure." The answer was quick with no hesitation and there was a defiant gleam in his eyes. "He's better off here than with me. He's happy staying with you and your family Mrs. Uchiha, I saw it every time he visited me in the hospital and told me about his day. His face would always light up when he talked about the new things he's tried and done that he's never been able to do before. Things that I could never give him no matter how much I wished I could. I know Kyuubi will be upset with my decision, but he'll get over it. Eventually."

The sadness had laden the Uzumaki's voice, displaying his already forming regret. Mikoto, even though she was questioning Naruto's reasons, supported the blond's decision and only wanted to make sure that he understood the effects of that decision. He did, the woman was sure of that, and he was already regretting them. However, more than anything, he needed to get away.

"Don't worry; we'll take care of him." Hearing the supportive voice of the head of the household, Naruto turned in his seat to see Fugaku walk in a very formal business suit with a manila folder in his hands. A folder which soon found its way into the blond's hands before Fugaku sat down next to his wife; a folder which the teen didn't have time to open as he was distracted by his godfather and Obito walking into the room having a friendly argument. "Ah, you two are just in time to hear what I have to say."

"What's up Fugaku-jisan?" Obito asked, taking a seat in the armchair while Kakashi opt to leaning against the couch his godson was resting on.

"I just received confirmation on the down payment on the lease for the house. It's fully furnished with everything you should need and it a good neighborhood. All the details are in there," the man explained, nodding towards the folder in Naruto's hands.

As the raven haired man continued to talk, Naruto's curiosity got the best of him and he opened the file folder to take a look at details that Fugaku had skimmed over. He would have actually read the file, if it wasn't for the fact that the folder was tugged out of his hands—which was easy seeing as that he didn't have a firm grip on the papers; if he did, he probably would end up with a paper cut—and _mysteriously_ ended up in Kakashi's hands.

"Hey!" the blond yelped, glaring up at the white haired man. "I was looking at that Jiji. You should have waited."

Deeply dark brown eyes were lost underneath eyelids that appeared to be curved in a happy gesture. "Gaki, you should have been faster then. Furthermore, you should learn to respect your superiors." The Uzumaki just mumbled a few choice words under his breath in English, Japanese, and was that German? Yep, it was German; where'd he learn that? Putting that thought to the back of his mind, Kakashi flipped to the file himself. The house was nice, that was for sure, but he wouldn't expect anything less from his godfather. The man always had fine tastes, yet there was just one question he had. "Why such a big house? Four bedrooms, three baths, full kitchen, dinning room, den and living room. A house half the size of this would have done for just two people."

"I agree, a house half the size would be substantial for two people," Fugaku replied, leaning back into the comfortable couch. One of his arms thrown casually over the back of the loveseat and therefore around Mikoto's shoulders while his other arms was resting upon the armrest. The whole look made a scene of pleasantry and homeliness; nonetheless, there was one thing off. The Uchiha's facial expression that demeaned he knew something that wasn't known to the Hatake. "But three people are going to be living there."

"Three?" Kakashi asked bewildered. The manila folder in his hands momentarily forgotten; which the Uzumaki took advantage of and snatched out of the older man's hands to look through the contents with his own aquatic blue eyes. An action that went unnoticed by the off duty police officer, but not by his partner who found himself snickering at the action.

"Yes, three," Mikoto confirmed; happily cuddling with her husband. "You, Naruto-kun, and Obito."

"Obito?" Two voices all but shouted. One voice in shock and the second in pure delight.

While the Hatake was doing a pretty good impression of a mime, Naruto eagerly asked the hyperactive Uchiha. "You're going?"

"Hell, I can't leave you on your own with him," Obito jabbed his finger at his blood brother, "that's just a cruel and unusual punishment-" the harsh objection coming from Kakashi being disregarded "-besides, there's no way I'm letting my partner ditch me. We've been together practically all our lives and I'm not about to let him abandon me now. I'm definitely coming with. I've already applied for the transferred, along with the request to continue being Kakashi's partner, and happy days, both were approved."

Kakashi's eyes were trained on Obito's all throughout their conversation. His eyes reading the cheer and comfort that rested on the surface of the onyx orbs and the empathy—_not_ pity— hidden within deep down. In return, his own dark eyes asked the many questions running through his mind for him. The unheard conversation went on ending swiftly, the end results had gratitude and relief shinning in the brown eyes. Throughout the two's silent exchange, the other occupants of the room keep quiet, letting them sort things out themselves. They could all follow the wordless chat, the Uchiha couple from years of learning to read people in and out of court and Naruto from being forced to learn body language to save himself and his brother from Minato's abuse.

"Thank you," the Hatake mouthed, which had his blood brother nodding his head.

* * *

Four o' clock rolled around with the Uchiha family, the Uzumaki brothers, Kakashi and Obito sitting around the full dinner table. Every seat occupied—for once—and the table loaded with food that one could mistaken it for a Thanksgiving feast. Chitchat filled the room, livening up the atmosphere with a cheerful aura, and laughter rang out at the occasional joke. There were at least two or three different conversations going on at the same time. Most of the conversations being told at the expense of the younger generation of Uchihas, Kakashi, and Obito's humiliation; but Kyuubi and Naruto just loved the stories being told. Everything was great.

Even before dinner started, things were good, Kyuubi had come rushing into the Uchiha household around three-ten (only taking enough time to pull off his shoes) searching for his older brother while Sasuke and Itachi took just a little more time (taking their shoes off and neatly arrange them, unlike the redhead who just kicked them off in the corner) to calmly walk through the house. However, the two ravens were in a slight hurry to see the blond finally out of the hospital as well.

Fugaku had to admit it was a tad humorous to see Kyuubi calling out for his brother, skidding across the wooden floor hallway with only his socks on searching for the older teen. The redhead had almost crashed into him as he was walking out of the living room where Naruto was sleeping on the couch and instead fell to the floor to avoid running into the head of the household. Giving the teen a helping hand up, Fugaku had directed the boy into the room he just previously occupied for the blond he was frantically searching for while giving him a heads-up that Naruto was asleep.

The fatherly man did not miss the way that the happiness slightly faded from Kyuubi's eyes at hearing that his older brother was not awake for him to talk to and insignificant amount of disappointment. Fugaku could only assume that the disappointment was from not getting to speak to his brother but the look soon disappeared from his eyes. Determination and resolution taking its place as delight overflowing from the violet colored orbs. The redhead had then thanked the older raven and darted into the room, his two boys trailing notably slower after the young Uzumaki; both boys giving their pleasantries as they passed by their father.

Standing in the doorway, Fugaku watched as the redhead walked over to the blond and kneeled before the couch, running his hand through the long locks of hair that had fallen into the tan scarred face. A peaceful smile on both their faces, not to be disturbed even when Sasuke and Itachi walked behind Kyuubi. Itachi was the first to break the silence, whispering comment to his boyfriend who just snorted in amusement. The youngest Uzumaki's laying his head against his brother's chest, listening to the steady rhythm of the blond's heart beat before whispering a retort back at Fugaku's oldest son. At this, Sasuke seemed to chuckle and add in his own two-cent worth, which only earned him a whack upside the head. It was at this point that Fugaku had left them alone, giving them their space.

Not soon after, Mikoto had gone in and retrieved the boys for dinner, having them wash up as she woke the still sleeping blond, which brought everything to a full circle. The only problem was that the older generation had yet to break the news to the youngest three about Naruto moving away. Mikoto had insisted they all have a wonderful—enjoyable—meal, meaning that the bad news wouldn't come until the end of dinner, preferably after. It would be the only dinner for them to remember and have for awhile, seeing as Fugaku and Kakashi had discussed things over and thought it best for Naruto to get out of town as soon as possible. They scheduled the flight to leave the next day just after midday.

"-her hair was pink and when I say pink, I'm not talking about a light shade barely there pink. I mean bright neon pink, I couldn't believe it! And Mr. Huang says I'm bad at chemistry," Kyuubi finished with a snort and s lopsided smirk on his face.

Chuckling at the story, Naruto shook his head in disbelief. "I don't believe I've ever seen anyone with pink hair before, it must look very strange. I wonder how she's going to get rid of the pink color; cut it all off or try to dye it a different color?"

"Well, we'll just have to wait and see. If you're not back in school before Sakura gets rid of the color, I'll tell ya," the younger boy commented, a thoughtful look appearing on his face. "Say, when are you're you going back to school, Anii?"

The question was innocent, but it caused the blond to tense up and throw a sideways glance across the table where Kakashi was sitting, not sure how to answer that question. There was no help there though, his godfather didn't know how to answer that question either judging by the ways his eyes were being evasive. By this time, the other conversations seemed to have ended on their own—Obito desperately trying to keep Itachi and Sasuke's attention with a conversation, but they were more or less ignoring him—and were waiting for an answer.

"Kyuubi, I'm not going back to that school," Naruto finally answered with a sigh of resignation. The redhead opened his mouth, about to ask him what school he was going to be going to then, unclear on why he was changing schools anyways, but he wasn't given the chance. "Nor any school here. Kyuubi… I'm leaving for Hi no Kuni, Japan tomorrow."

It didn't take but a second for Kyuubi to react, in an instant the chair he was sitting in was pushed back and him standing up so that he could get a better look at the brother sitting in the chair next to him. The scrapping of the chair's legs against the hardwood floor defeated the clattering of the fork hitting the plate before Sasuke, the utensil having fallen from the youngest Uchiha's slacked hand. For a moment, the young teen felt like he couldn't breathe, that his heart decided that it couldn't beat anymore and he couldn't focus.

"What? What do you mean you're leaving for Hi no Kuni tomorrow?" the redhead desperately questioned Naruto, panic evident in his voice.

With all the composure he could muster up, Naruto fought to make sure his eyes were not flickering with his own doubt as he looked up at his brother. "Just what I said Kyuu, tomorrow, there's a flight scheduled to leave at twelve-forty and there is a ticket with my name on it."

"What about me?" the same thought was running through Sasuke's mind, even though it was Kyuubi who asked.

"You'll be staying here with us," Mikoto finally intervened, having two pair of onyx and a set of violet eyes flicker over to look at the only woman in the house.

It was then, that they all realized that _they knew_ that they were the ones left in the dark about things. Kyuubi had thought everything was going to be fine now that Naruto was out of the hospital and they were away from Minato Namikaze. He thought that they were going to be together, after Fugaku had ensured that the Social Services couldn't separate them but they were still being separated. He wanted to know why. Why his brother was leaving him? Why was he being left alone? Why he was being abandoned? Why?

Feeling arms warp securely around his shaking form, Kyuubi leaned into Naruto's embrace, not wanting to lose the comfort. "Listen Kyuu, I'm not abandoning you, never even consider that. I would never abandoned you, I didn't when Minato went on his rampages and I'm not going to now," the relaxing tone of Naruto's voice allowed the redhead to calm himself down and make him realize that he had voiced the doubts out loud. "I'll always be there for you, but I need to get away, Kyuu. Can you understand that? I need to do this, for myself." Naruto felt more than saw his brother nod into his shirt, yet his grip never letting going and increased instead. "If you don't want me to go, I'll stay."

Sasuke heard the softly whispered offer; though he didn't think that any of them were supposed to, he heard it anyways. With all his being he wished that his brother's boyfriend would say yes, that he wanted the blond to stay. That he wasn't going to the Land of Fire and he would stay here with them. Sasuke wanted to be selfish and keep the blond here, but he knew, even before Kyuubi declined the offer, that having Naruto stay would be greedy. That the Uzumaki needed to get away and do something selfish for himself, but that didn't stop his heart from throbbing in heartache.

"I'll be alright," Kyuubi murmured. He still clung to the older teen, although his hands finally returning to their normal tan color instead of white from lack of blood circulation. "But what about you?"

A soft chuckle, not one out of happiness but out of liberation, vibrated in Naruto's throat. "Remember my birthday was last week; I'm eighteen now Kyuu, a legal adult, and I practically raised you. I'm going to be fine."

"And if he's not, we'll be there with him," Kakashi spoke up with a soft smile on his face

"Exactly, we'll make sure nothing happens to him," Obito concluded. "Besides, no one will mess with an Uchiha in Hi no Kuni, not when the police chief is a former yakuza member and an Uchiha. Better yet Madara is Fugaku's father and my grandfather. He'll probably feel grateful towards Naruto here because he saved two of his grandchildren."

"Hey, you never told you that Grandfather Madara was a former Yakuza," Itachi suddenly stated which earned Obito a glare form Mikoto for saying such things.

* * *

The rest of the time before Naruto and his guardians' departure went by rather quickly. Too quickly for some of their taste, but there wasn't anything any of them could do concerning time. Instead, they made the most of what little time left they had together and made the best of it. The whole Uchiha family and Kyuubi had come to see the three off at the airport and say their goodbyes, making Naruto realized that—for once in his life after his mother's death—there were people that cared about him other than his brother.

The hundred dollar bill that Fugaku pressed into his hands as he was leaving and the small homemade obento presented to him by Mikoto were their way of showing their concern for him. He was happy that they were worried about him, but it wasn't necessary, or at least that is what he had told them. Kyuubi, with Itachi's help, had gotten him a fox and weasel decorated picture frame with two pictures parallel to one another. Both of the pictures having the reoccurring theme of Naruto pulling the two boys apart from each other, the difference being that one was of them fighting when they were younger and the other of them making out. When asked where they got the pictures—because he definitely didn't remember them every being taken—Kyuubi pointed at Itachi, who just shrugged his shoulders and said it was a secret. Sasuke had even given him a going away present, but he was told he couldn't open it until after the plane had taken off.

Before boarding the aircraft, Naruto had made sure that he hugged his brother and Mikoto, shook hands with Fugaku, threatening Itachi to keep his brother safe and happy, and gave Sasuke a hug of his own as well. Promising he would write, or e-mailed, them all as soon as he could, the blond left with one last look back. Kakashi and Obito, who also had their own going away gifts, also parted ways with a last farewell and they too were gone. The last sight they had of the three men was of them following the stewardess to their seats.

Sasuke could only pray that the blond would like his present, which was the original drawing for the first part of a manga he had been working on. Hopefully the blond won't mind, after all, he had based the main character off of Naruto.

* * *

Ahh, don't kill me. This was how it was supposed to end. Sasuke loves and doesn't say a word, only to watch Naruto leave him.

Question: Overall, what was your favorite part?

**_Shi no Tenshi 902_**


	11. Destinations

Okay, so someone made a comment that they were sad that Sasuke and Naruto never actually got together in the story...this is the outcome.

* * *

"Uchiha-san, your editor just called. He wants the next chapter of _Jinchuuriki: The Juubi Files_ by tomorrow," Sasuke's current receptionist, Karen, spoke through the intercom. The 25 year old artist just ignored the woman's voice and continued shuffling through the countless papers scattered across his workstation. Collecting a few in his hands while moving other to the garbage can or piled them off to the side of his desk. Once he had all the pages he was looking for, the raven carefully slide them into a large yellow envelope and sealed the contents inside. Grabbing the firs pen he came to, the man hastily wrote down Nagato Pein's name and seizes his jack before heading out the door.

"Karen, send this to Nagato along with a note reminding him I'm not going to be here for the next few days," Sasuke instructed his receptionist, who doubled as his secretary, dropping the yellow folder onto her clean desk. "Also, could you call Ino's Floral Shop and have them send two dozen red and white flowers to my mother? Have the flowers delivered asap."

Not waiting to hear the sort ginger woman's reply, the Uchiha stalked out the door. A brief glance at his watch showed that it was only 4:52, but he felt he had inadvertently pissed his mother off over the phone earlier in the day. He really hadn't meant too, he was just trying to finish up the last few panels of his latest chapter and wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to his phone conversation–or lack of–with his mother. All the Uchiha matriarch was trying to do was remind him about the dinner party they were having at the Rising Sun later that day and informing him that the time had changed to six o'clock instead of the original five o' clock meeting time. Moreover, the time change was for his benefit and he felt even guiltier than before when he realized his mistake. With a bit of luck, Ino would have the flowers already delivered to his mother by the time they meet up at the restaurant.

The drive from his work to his current apartment complex went by quickly enough and in a matter of minutes he was already jogging up the stairs to fourth floor apartment, not wanting to wait the extra time for the elevator. Ignoring the countless large brown moving boxes scattered about his small living-room, Sasuke discarded his office attire for the more business casual outfit he left out instead of being pack away like the majority of his other outfits. The Uchiha made sure he had enough time to take a shower and clean up before he jumped into the shower.

It took the raven a total of twenty minutes to get cleaned up before he was once again heading out the door. This time he was wearing his mother's favorite outfit on him, a pair of black slacks and a dark pinstriped button up shirt that he had gotten for his last birthday. Another, more subtle form of apology, but one she would understand.

* * *

"Itachi! You better hurry your ass up or else we're going to be late!" Kyuubi hollered over his shoulder as he buttoned up his red satin shirt. "If we're late, I'm going to tell Mikoto-kaasan that twas all your fault, `cause I'm not going to be the one taking the blame. Not this time!"

"This coming from the man that was late to his own graduation?" Itachi chuckled, walking into the room with not a single shred of clothing on as he finished drying off his hair. A bright red blush spread across the redhead's face as he fixed his beau with a hard stare. One that had nothing to do with the Uchiha's current lack of clothing and everything to do with anger mixed in with embarrassment about the current memory playing over in his head.

"That was so **not** my fault!" Kyuubi yelped out with haste, a finger pointed accusingly at the smug looking raven in front of him. "You were the one that caused me to be late! You and that damn silver-tongue of yours."

The Uzumaki continued to fume as he turned around, mumbling about perverted weasels taking advantage of poor innocent foxes while roughly grabbing a brush off the nightstand and began to tie his hair back in its custom style. A yip like sound escaped the redhead when he was violently pulled back against a damp chest by the belt loops of his pants.

"But Kyuubi-_chan_ you were asking for it, wearing those tight leather pants. They just screamed "Fuck Me" and I was only obliging the request," Itachi breathed into his boyfriend's ear, causing the man inside his grasp to stiffen. "And if I'm not mistaken, you were the one praising _my damn silver-tongue_ that night. Going so far as to pleading for more, if I remember correctly." A heavy moan escaped Kyuubi's lips as he felt the raven nip at his ear. The hand currently trying to unfasten his black pants didn't go unnoticed either. A deeper moan broke out from chapped lips as Itachi began to suck on the side of his neck, which only encouraged the man even further.

"Weasel-kun," Kyuubi breathlessly whispered out, just the way that Itachi loved to hear. A smirk forming at his victory over the redhead; not caring that yet again he was going to make his boyfriend late for another time in his life. "If you don't stop now, you'll be sleeping on the couch until Christmas."

With that said, Kyuubi untangled himself from his boyfriend's now lax grip and made his way out of the bedroom ever so cheerfully and a smirk of his own on his lips. He just loved it when he turned the tables on the up-and-coming lawyer, knowing that he was the only one that could get away with it. If he were anyone else, Itachi might just seek out his revenge on him, but not him. Nope, Itachi loved him too much. He didn't need to be the detective that he was to figure that out, any blind person could see that.

"Oh, a put on that purple shirt, I think the color really brings out your eyes," Kyuubi called out over his should, sending a small wink at the still dumbfounded Uchiha.

* * *

The moment that the two dozen flowers arrived at the house, Mikoto knew, without reading the note that her youngest son was apologizing for his short behavior over the phone. However, seeing him dressed up in his outfit, she knew that he was trying really hard to apologize without saying the words, a trait that he and his brother seemed to have inherited from their father. He could never say "sorry" either, but he always thought actions spoke louder than words and would send her flowers every single time he found himself sleeping on the couch and sometime before she would sentence him to the couch.

"Okaa-san, Otou-san, I hope I'm not late," Sasuke said, as he took a set in one of the many empty chairs around the table.

"You're fine Sasuke, the other's haven't arrived yet," Mikoto said, flashes her youngest son a smile to reassure him that she wasn't unset at his earlier behavior. An action which caused the raven to visible relax into his chair. "It's good to see you again. You haven't spot by the house in over a month."

A slight flush of color crossed the pale cheeks at the subtle chastisement of not visiting. "I've been busy with work and packing. I just haven't gotten the time to stop by."

"I thought you're going to have a moving company come in and pack everything up for you," Fugaku stated; though the puzzled look on his face made Sasuke recognize the question that laid beneath the surface.

"I was, but there are some things in my apartment that I would rather pack up myself. Just to make sure their safe and nobody with sticky fingers can get their hands on," the young man explained, briefly pausing to give the waiter his drink order. "All the big stuff, I'm going to have professional move. They're scheduled to come by tomorrow afternoon to start shipping what I want to the new house while taking everything else to charity. The new furniture I've bought should have already arrived at the house today, and, with any luck, the house will be ready to be moved into on Friday."

"You're going to have a housewarming party, aren't you?" Mikoto asked, taking a sip of her white wine, eyes darting towards the hostess that was escorting the wayward members of the family to the table. Vaguely, she heard her youngest son confirm that there was going to be a housewarming party after all the moving was finally settled in and nodded her head in understanding before greeting the new arrivals. "Kyuubi, I'm surprised that you're not late."

"Well, I decided to stop listening to this little evil voice and miraculously, I wasn't late!" Kyuubi enthusiastically told his (all but in name) mother-in-law as he took a seat.

Not understand the young man's comment, the woman turned her attention towards her oldest child, who was glaring daggers at the redhead. "It's good to see you too, Itachi."

"It's kinda hard to miss him when he's working with you, isn't it?" Kyuubi said offhandedly, watching his boyfriend take a seat out of the corner of his eye. Itachi looked ready to kill him, but he couldn't help but remember the pout he had be wearing just a few minute before. The big bad attorney didn't look so big or bad then. He actually looked very cute and Kyuubi couldn't help wanting to hug him. An action which lead to the evil eye he was currently receiving, because big bad Uchiha Itachi doesn't do hugs; well, not in public at least. "So, where's the rest of the illustrious Uchiha clan?"

"And what? We're chop liver?" Tsunade asked, as she took the seat next to her goddaughter and her husband, Jiraiya, sitting next to her. The older woman had just recently gotten married to her first crush, the elderly white haired man was slightly perverted, but he was loyal to Tsunade. He had waited over fifty years to marry her after all.

"Not at all Tsunade-baachan!" the Uzumaki smiled brightly. "You're part of the family too! `Cause, you're Mikoto-kaasan's godmother; therefore, you're a part of the Uchiha clan by default."

The smack on the head wasn't all that unexpected. "What have I told you about calling me _baa-chan_?"

"Nice try at covering your ass kid," Jiraiya commented in a near whisper so only Kyuubi could hear him. Seeing how his wife was now ranting over the fact that kids didn't know how to show any sign of respect at all. "So, how's work?" the old man asked, this time in a much louder voice and directed to Fugaku.

"The law firm is doing well. No news shattering cases or anything, but more than enough work to go around. Seems like after the Gatou vs. Tazuna case finally finished up, that everyone wants Uchiha & Uchiha firm to represent them," the graying raven haired man answered, ignoring the argument going on between his wife's godmother and his –if Itachi ever got around to asking–son-in-law. His wife was doing the same, talking to their sons while disregarding the quarrelling duo. The two were too headstrong and stubborn that every time they got together, it would seem that they always ended up fighting.

However, what the rest of the family didn't realize was that both Kyuubi and Tsunade fought for the sake of the argument. None of them could understand how they could be at each other's throats at one moment, but at the next they were getting along and happily chatting over drinks. There was also the upside that it confused the hell out of the Uchihas and Jiraiya, which just fueled the two tricksters on.

"Sorry we're late, my beautiful wife decided that she wasn't beautiful enough and I had to convince her otherwise," Obito greeted the table as he pulled out a chair to let his wife of five years, Rin, sit down. The brunette blushed at her husband's comment, but extended her greeting as well.

"And we're late my bonehead of a partner was our ride tonight," Kakashi explained, taking the seat across form Rin with his boyfriend of seven years, Iruka, sitting across from Mikoto. "You haven't order yet, have you?"

"Kakashi! Don't be rude," the brunet scolded, lightly glaring at the man before turning his attention to the rest of the table. "It's good to see everyone again."

"Good to see you too Iruka," Kyuubi greeted the man kindly, a slightly mischievous smirk on his face as violet eyes darted to look over at Kakashi. "After all, you're Kakashi's better half, without you, he'd be a miserable old hermit."

"Watch it kid, else I might just have to assign you to street patrol," the new Head Detective of the Homicide division growled out.

"Hey! He's my junior detective!" Obitio stood up for the redhead, making the Uzumaki smirk. Looks like he had the older detective on his side; or so he thought, that was until the Uchiha's next sentence. "You send him out on street patrols and I'll have to go too! I've already done my time out there, even more than that. If punish him, pick something else that doesn't involve me; like make him do all my paperwork or something."

"Now there's a cruel and unusual punishment," Rin commented, grinning at her husband. She knew how much the lively man hated doing any paperwork; his whole desk was one big pile of unfinished work. One could hardly tell that it was actually a desk and not just a pile of discarded papers. "I say go for it, Kyuubi will be there for a week straight."

"Thanks a lot Rin-chan, just throw me out into hell. I'm sure that the devil will never find me there," the redhead dramatically declared. Crossing his fingers in front of him, the Uzumaki held them out towards his boss. "Stay back you fiend, back I say!" The napkin thrown at his face sent the rest of the table laughing, while Kakashi lend back in his chair, trying to look as innocent as possible. He failed.

At this point, the waiter came over, taking all their orders and tipping off their drinks before leaving them with promises the food would be out as soon as possible. Not that his assurance was saying much, Rising Sun was a very popular restaurant and on any given night the place was always crowded. Rising Sun was actually a small classy family restaurant, not a high and pricey place, but it was the food that kept people coming back. The food was exquisite. It was one of the reasons that keep the Uchiha and many others like them, coming back regularly. However, with the popularity of the place, the kitchen was constantly busy, even if the restaurant was small and couldn't hold many guests at one time, there was still a constant stream of pickup orders that had to be made.

On the other hand, it gave the group more time to talk with one another. Mikoto, Fugaku, and Itachi retelling some of their more interesting clients' cases while Kakashi, Obito, and Kyuubi explained all they could about a few ongoing cases without divulging anything that would come back and bite them in the ass at a later date. Although, it was Tsunade and Rin story about pulling a bullet out of some guy's ass after he sat down on his gun while he was drunk and it accidently going off. Jiraiya only got to mention that he had a new book coming out, Icha Icha Tactics, but his wife threatened his manhood if he started to go any further which brought up Sasuke's newest manga, _Jinchuuriki: The Juubi Files_, and how popular it already was. Iruka even admitted that he had to confiscate a few couples during his classes at the local high school, because his students were more interested reading the graphic novel than listening to his lectures.

The table had just been listening to how Iruka had threatened his class that if they didn't stop reading _Jinchuuriki: The Juubi Files_ in his class, he would have the author–"a personal friend of his" he had told the class–stop making them when their food finally came. It took three waiters just to bring out all their meals because of the large group that one tray would not suffice.

"Is there anything else I can get you?" their original waiter asked, after serving everyone their meals.

"That's okay Harry, I'll take it from here," the head chef spoke as he walked over to the table, dismissing the waiter.

It wasn't often, but it was a well known fact to the regulars at Rising Sun that the head chef and owner of the restaurant would come out and chat with the customers. He wanted to make sure his "guest" were having a good time and if they weren't, what could be done to make it better. Although, most of the time, he would end up just talking with the regular customers like they were old friends and since the Uchihas were regulars, he made it a point to come out every single time one of them was there.

"So, how's everyone doing?" the chef asked.

"Wouldn't know, have tried it yet," Sasuke answered with a small smirk on his face. "But if I had to guess, I'd say it's like all the other meals I've eaten here. The best damn food ever."

"And you're just being biased. You eat my cooking almost every single day Sasuke."

"And I can't wait until I'm eating your food every single day, now that we're moving in together, _Naruto_," the young raven said, sending a wink towards the now blushing blond. "We are here to celebrate you're birthday after all. Can't be much of a party without the birthday boy."

Shaking his head at his boyfriend's comment, Uzumaki Naruto took a seat next to Sasuke in the only remaining chair at the table and joined the family for dinner. The rest of the table wishing him a happy birthday and handing him presents; however, the best present of all came from them just being there. Being his family.

* * *

Questions for each chapter:

Chapter 1: So, think I should continue or not? (Kind of redundant at this point)

Chapter 2: What do you think of my versions of Fugaku, Mikoto, and their relationship?

Chapter 3: What part do you like better, the Uchihas meeting Kyuubi at the door or Kyuubi stealing Itachi's obento for comparison?

Chapter 4: How was Naruto's not so grand entrance?

Chapter 5: What do you think of the line: "I liked it better when you two were at each other's throats, not in them"?

Chapter 6: Did the chapter seem epically depressing to you, or is it just me?

Chapter 7: Has anyone realized that the characters I really like are always put the ones I'm putting through hell?

Chapter 8: Yeah, did anyone get the reference that it was Tsunade that was the Uchiha's family doctor in the previous chapters?

Chapter 9: Does Sasuke seem a little perverted to anyone?

Chapter 10: Overall, what was your favorite part?

Chapter 11: Do I get cookies now that Sasuke and Naruto are offically together?

**_Shi no Tenshi 902_**


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